What is this?

[SpiderFood]

One of the ladies at the local pet shop here gave me this to bring home and take pics to put on here to see if we can figure out what it is. The lighting is a little bad but I think you can see it well enough to examine it. Its in water and came in with thier feeder fish shipment mixed with the fish. It has four legs, a long tail like appendage and two antennae like a moth or something. Is it a larvae or nymph of some sort?

Heres one pic

later

dale

 

[SpiderFood]

guess it would help to post the pic huh? lol

 

[SpiderFood]

pic 2

 

[SpiderFood]

I apologize to which ever mod moves this I am in a hurry and wasn on my way out the door when I posted this and hit the left button on the mouse too soon. Humblest apologies.

thanx

dale

 

[Wade]

That is a waterscorpion, genus Renatra. That is the adult insect. They are "true bugs" (Hemiptera). They are predators of a variety of tiny aquatic organisms, such as mosquito larvae.

They use their mantid-like "raptorial forelimbs" to capture prey, wich the imobilize by injecting digestive fluids via their sharp "beak". They then suck out the fluids, very much like a giant water bug or assasin bug (also true bugs).

The tail is actually a pair of breathing tubes.

Although it's known as a waterscorpion, it's an insect.

Wade

 

[SpiderFood]

Wade, thanks a bunch for the info. The lady at the pet shop will be thrilled to find out what it eats first and foremost so she can keep it alive and what it is especially. Thanks man


later

dale

 

[Wade]

If they're kept in water with lots of plants and things to cling to, they're usually able to grab small crickets from the surface and pull them through. In the Elytra and Anetena book on true bugs, the author recomends isopods (pill bugs and sow bugs) as food, but I haven't tried it yet.

Wade

 

[ORION_DV8]

If i may add also be careful when handling this little beast they have a little bit of a painful bite, similar if not identical to the bite of the giant water bug. painful business, i mean its no pokie bite but it hurts.
ORION