larva of mosquito - swimming bladders

carlos.uruguay · Post by **carlos.uruguay** » Fri Oct 05, 2018 12:40 pm

Wooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwww
A beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Troels · Post by **Troels** » Sat Oct 06, 2018 8:16 am

Very nice and interesting!
I am wondering what kind of mosquito you have found.

Do you have a picture of the whole animal?

The shape of the swim bladders remind me of the Chaoborus larvae. They are almost totally transparent and are also called "glass mosquitos". But in the Chaoborus I know, the bladders are possitioned parallel to each other. So unless your larva has been squeezed under the cover glass this is not your animal.

Marek Mis · Post by **Marek Mis** » Sun Oct 07, 2018 11:05 am

Excellent images !

MASZEK · Post by **MASZEK** » Tue Oct 09, 2018 1:56 am

Hello Troels.
I'm sorry for the answer so late. I'm not a biologist. I do not know what kind of larva this is. I bought it at the nature store. I took photos over a year ago and they show dried larvae without cover slips. Pictures in polarization.
Regards

Troels · Post by **Troels** » Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:13 am

Thanks for the explanation.
So dried larvae are on the marked. I suppose they are intended for feeding aquarium fish.

That explains the sligtly odd appearance of this Chaoborus.

As a reference for the interested I have found a picture of the living larva where the bladders are positioned side by side. One pair in front and one pair near the back end: Chaoborus larva

They are carnivorous, cathing Daphnias and other planktonic animals using their foldable antenneas as a claw.

There are several possible species, but apparently difficult to distinguish.

piermicro · Post by **piermicro** » Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:04 am

Very good as always.