Diving beetle

[Herpetologyfrk]

I am pretty sure these aren't in the same genus as Rhinoceros beetles, but I figured I would post here anyways.

I have been in search of some in this creek about 10mi from my place. I have tried looking for the larva...because I think I have seen them there before. May have been dragon fly larva too..

Does any body have experience with finding these in the wild? I have a empty fish tank full of snails for them to eat if I find some. I know adults fly, although I have seen some species being kept succesfully in captivity before.

Any information would be awesome!

Thanks, Nick

 

[Allpet Roaches]

This is the time of year they fly to lights. If you can set up a light rig nearby you may find them.

The larvae should be easy to pick out if you want to go netting for them but I don't think larvae are normally found in moving water. I only seen water beetle larvae in pools and ponds.

 

[Herpetologyfrk]

This is the time of year they fly to lights. If you can set up a light rig nearby you may find them. The larvae should be easy to pick out if you want to go netting for them but I don't think larvae are normally found in moving water. I only seen water beetle larvae in pools and ponds.

I was hoping you would reply =]

Maybe a LED flashlight? :lol: My step dad has a long strip light that has maybe 9 led's in it, it is super bright plus it is wireless.

The creek is inside a bunch of trees/bushes almost no sunlight gets through. The creek comes from a natural spring on the other side of the hill (There is also a waterfall maybe a mile away from the creek too).

How big is the larva exactly? I have seen videos and pictures, but you can honestly never tell by pictures. Would they be under wood, rocks, or would they be hiding in aquatic plants? At the moment there is tons of this aquatic plant, TONS of southern pacific frogs in it. At the basin of the waterfall is where a lot of the tad poles are. There are parts of the water that isn't moving very fast. It is really slow moving if not totally stopped at some parts of the river.

 

[Peter Clausen]

A good technique for surveying (and collecting) the fauna of a water system is to build a small fence-like structure across the creek. A stake pounded into each bank with a net run across and under the water, and pinned at the bottom with a line of suitable rocks is a start. Once it's set up, go upstream and begin turning rocks over. All the dislodged fauna will be caught in the netting. This works best in areas of the system with a decent current.

If you haven't seen adults in the last few months though, you may very well be wasting your time. In this case, greener pastures may be the key.