Water butt beastie
 

Plunging a bucket into my water butt this morning to give the roses a bit of
help through the dry spell, I noticed four or five unfamiliar beasties
twitching in the drawn water.

Each is about a quarter of an inch long, mostly clear but with darker areas
transversely and a definite head end.

There is a very thin, quite short, breathing tube (I assume) at the other
end.

Not any variety of mozzie larva I know.

Any suggestions?
--
Brian
"posting from Sutton, Winner of the English and Welsh Village of the Year
award"

Water butt beastie
 

"Brian Watson" wrote in message
...
Plunging a bucket into my water butt this morning to give the roses a bit
of
help through the dry spell, I noticed four or five unfamiliar beasties
twitching in the drawn water.

You only have one kind?

Golly, there must be half a dozen different kinds in our butt - but only in
the open one. The ones with lids have no visible life in them, must be a
lesson there !

Mary

Water butt beastie
 

In article , Mary Fisher
writes
Golly, there must be half a dozen different kinds in our butt

Nasty!

--
__________________________________________
Gareth Jones

"Reality sucks - go watch a Star Trek"

To email, remove the '_ns_' from

__________________________________________

Water butt beastie
 

"Gareth Jones" wrote in message
...
In article , Mary Fisher
writes
Golly, there must be half a dozen different kinds in our butt

Nasty!

Well, I don't know. They don't seem unfriendly. They don't smile at me
either mind you ...

I don't mind them.

Mary

Water butt beastie
 

In article , Mary Fisher
writes
Golly, there must be half a dozen different kinds in our butt

Nasty!

Well, I don't know. They don't seem unfriendly. They don't smile at me
either mind you ...

ROTFLMFHO!!!!!

It must be great being double jointed!

--
__________________________________________
Gareth Jones

"Reality sucks - go watch a Star Trek"

To email, remove the '_ns_' from

__________________________________________

Water butt beastie
 

"Mary Fisher" wrote in message
t...


"Brian Watson" wrote in message
...
Plunging a bucket into my water butt this morning to give the roses a
bit
of
help through the dry spell, I noticed four or five unfamiliar beasties
twitching in the drawn water.

You only have one kind?

No, I have several kinds. It's just that I can't identify this kind!

Golly, there must be half a dozen different kinds in our butt - but only
in
the open one. The ones with lids have no visible life in them, must be a
lesson there !

I have a lid on mine but I assume the parents got in where the inpipe passes
through that lid.


Had another look this morning.

The bodies have a kind of blotchy, almost zigzag dark pattern when viewed
from above, and the pipe-type "tail" is actually about as long as the body.

Any ideas?
--
Brian
"Stuck down a hole, in the fog, in the middle of the night, with an owl."

Water butt beastie
 

"sw" wrote in message
...
Brian Watson wrote:

The bodies have a kind of blotchy, almost zigzag dark pattern when
viewed
from above, and the pipe-type "tail" is actually about as long as the
body.

Any ideas?

Some type of hoverfly larva? Specifically that known as the 'rat-tailed
maggot', the larva of the Drone Fly _Eristalis tenax_ (the tube is very
extensible). I have these in my half-barrel 'pond' and would not be
surprised to find them in a water butt to which the adults could gain
access. They are harmless, and the adults are good pollinators.

http://res2.agr.ca/lethbridge/scitech/kdf/rat_e.htm

Excellent! That's the one, I'm sure.

"Adults feed on nectar and probably serve a minor beneficial role by
pollinating flowers" and "harmless to livestock, pets and people"

Thank you very much.

--
Brian
"Stuck down a hole, in the fog, in the middle of the night, with an owl."

Water butt beastie
 

Brian Watson wrote:

[-]

I have a lid on mine but I assume the parents got in where the inpipe passes
through that lid.


Had another look this morning.

The bodies have a kind of blotchy, almost zigzag dark pattern when viewed
from above, and the pipe-type "tail" is actually about as long as the body.

Any ideas?

Some type of hoverfly larva? Specifically that known as the 'rat-tailed
maggot', the larva of the Drone Fly _Eristalis tenax_ (the tube is very
extensible). I have these in my half-barrel 'pond' and would not be
surprised to find them in a water butt to which the adults could gain
access. They are harmless, and the adults are good pollinators.

http://res2.agr.ca/lethbridge/scitech/kdf/rat_e.htm


regards
sarah



--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

Water butt beastie
 

Brian Watson wrote:

"sw" wrote in message
...
Brian Watson wrote:

The bodies have a kind of blotchy, almost zigzag dark pattern when
viewed
from above, and the pipe-type "tail" is actually about as long as the
body.

Any ideas?

Some type of hoverfly larva? Specifically that known as the 'rat-tailed
maggot', the larva of the Drone Fly _Eristalis tenax_ (the tube is very
extensible). I have these in my half-barrel 'pond' and would not be
surprised to find them in a water butt to which the adults could gain
access. They are harmless, and the adults are good pollinators.

http://res2.agr.ca/lethbridge/scitech/kdf/rat_e.htm

Excellent! That's the one, I'm sure.

"Adults feed on nectar and probably serve a minor beneficial role by
pollinating flowers" and "harmless to livestock, pets and people"

Thank you very much.

My pleasure :-)

regards
sarah

--
Waist deep, neck deep
We'll be drowning before too long
We're neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the damned fools keep yelling to push on

Water butt beastie
 

Some type of hoverfly larva? Specifically that known as the 'rat-tailed
maggot', the larva of the Drone Fly _Eristalis tenax_ (the tube is very
extensible). I have these in my half-barrel 'pond' and would not be
surprised to find them in a water butt to which the adults could gain
access. They are harmless, and the adults are good pollinators.

And our hens just love the larvae ...

Thanks for the site.

Mary