# New crush for me!



## Galapoheros (Jul 10, 2011)

impossible to obtain in the US?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpv9P1KOVMQ&feature=relmfu


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## beetleman (Jul 10, 2011)

amazing! yeah ive seen that vid sometime ago,man i would love to have a giant land leech:drool: ive kept the giant horse/ribbon leeches we have here,they would swallow earthworms like mad,but they were aquatic,i like the terrestrials,it's amazing how that 1 was comsuming that big worm.


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## Galapoheros (Jul 10, 2011)

I really like the idea of having some of those, do you know if they have ever been US imported?  This one looks interesting also.
http://zc-lovenaturewildlife-studio.blogspot.com/p/giant-red-leech-of-mount-kinabalu-sabah.html


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## beetleman (Jul 11, 2011)

oh man..........i want!! that think is sick, i spoke to an importer years back about land leeches,they are everywhere(borneo,malaysia,etc)but not much for a damand for them,he couldn't just import a few,but w/more people wanting them,who knows,and as far as i know they weren't illegal at that time,when i inquired about them.


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## LeilaNami (Jul 11, 2011)

Now wait a minute, Todd! You've got some awesome native leeches where you are!   I need one of these http://bugguide.net/node/view/283061


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## Galapoheros (Jul 11, 2011)

Well when I went to Garner, I remembered to try and find a place to look for those but I ran out of time to look for a place.  Sooo, Big Spring ranch huh?, or around there?  Man it's hot, pools are drying up though, makes it easy to find things.


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## beetleman (Jul 11, 2011)

LeilaNami said:


> Now wait a minute, Todd! You've got some awesome native leeches where you are!   I need one of these http://bugguide.net/node/view/283061


ooh.:drool:i would love to have some aswell,those are really cool.   years back i also kept the medicinal leech(from the biological suppy places)but they were very small.,i like the bigguns!


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## LeilaNami (Jul 11, 2011)

Galapoheros said:


> Well when I went to Garner, I remembered to try and find a place to look for those but I ran out of time to look for a place.  Sooo, Big Spring ranch huh?, or around there?  Man it's hot, pools are drying up though, makes it easy to find things.


Yep.  We talked to someone who found one in Leaky or read it somewhere I think.  We went looking for one after left Lost Maples but didn't find any.  From what I understand, they like it cooler.

And beetleman, I want one SO bad!  I've kept a leech only once (shipped to the lab from Carolina Biological Supply) but they're addicting and I want more.  Plus, I loved seeing people's faces at PetSmart when I told them I needed a dead minnow.  Just one.    I prefer detritivores but I wouldn't mind one that needed blood meals.


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## ZergFront (Jul 11, 2011)

I thought leeches only fed on blood. Do they just feed on blood to produce eggs like mosquitoes? :?:8o


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## Galapoheros (Jul 12, 2011)

ZergFront said:


> I thought leeches only fed on blood. Do they just feed on blood to produce eggs like mosquitoes? :?:8o


It doesn't sound like you clicked on the link to the vid at the beginning of the thread.

Oh, I thought it was you guys that found those leeches, now I think I remember.


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## beetleman (Jul 12, 2011)

LeilaNami said:


> Yep.  We talked to someone who found one in Leaky or read it somewhere I think.  We went looking for one after left Lost Maples but didn't find any.  From what I understand, they like it cooler.
> 
> And beetleman, I want one SO bad!  I've kept a leech only once (shipped to the lab from Carolina Biological Supply) but they're addicting and I want more.  Plus, I loved seeing people's faces at PetSmart when I told them I needed a dead minnow.  Just one.    I prefer detritivores but I wouldn't mind one that needed blood meals.


yep,that's where i got the medicinals from,i had to give them live frogsdidn't like that,but man can they feast:drool:the giant horse/ribbon leeches i got from,if i could remember land of lakes bait(watersmeet michigan)it was quite sometime ago,and they would eat whole earthworms.


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## xhexdx (Jul 12, 2011)

Galapoheros said:


> impossible to obtain in the US?
> 
> [YOUTUBE]vpv9P1KOVMQ[/YOUTUBE]


Easier this way.


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## LeilaNami (Jul 12, 2011)

ZergFront said:


> I thought leeches only fed on blood. Do they just feed on blood to produce eggs like mosquitoes? :?:8o


Nope.  Some are not hemophagic at all.  The species I kept mostly fed on drum head minnows during their mass die-off every year.  It was willing to take a rosy red minnows and guppies however and liked to suck the eyeballs out of the skull.  There are a lot of species that are detritivores.  Leeches reproduce a lot like earthworms.



> yep,that's where i got the medicinals from,i had to give them live frogsdidn't like that,but man can they feastthe giant horse/ribbon leeches i got from,if i could remember land of lakes bait(watersmeet michigan)it was quite sometime ago,and they would eat whole earthworms.


I want one!

Todd, nah we tried to find them but were unsuccessful.


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## Galapoheros (Jul 12, 2011)

I may go out there pretty soon to look around.  I wonder if pools in the hill country rivers start drying this time of year and bigger fish die off so that those leeches have a population explosion from eating on the dead stuff, mmmmmm:drool:  I'll report back if I find anything.


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## 3ntomology (Jul 14, 2011)

Man, spiders, beetles, centipedes, scorpions, millipedes, caterpillars, solifugids, mantis, ants, and all other arthropods I adore.

but never in a million years would I ever thought about keeping a leech... annelids are not my thing!


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## Galapoheros (Jul 14, 2011)

I found a couple of them yesterday in the dried up San Gabriel river, looks like a small species though, I want big ones.  These are fast swimmers, almost as fast as some fish and flop around on the ground like fish as a defense.  I'd like predatory ones only, don't know about these.  It was hot!, I still don't feel right.


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## LeilaNami (Jul 15, 2011)

Galapoheros said:


> I found a couple of them yesterday in the dried up San Gabriel river, looks like a small species though, I want big ones.  These are fast swimmers, almost as fast as some fish and flop around on the ground like fish as a defense.  I'd like predatory ones only, don't know about these.  It was hot!, I still don't feel right.


You found the species I linked to?  The one I posted about should get 5-6 inches long when stretched out and flattened...and that's on the small side.


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## Galapoheros (Jul 15, 2011)

LeilaNami said:


> You found the species I linked to?  The one I posted about should get 5-6 inches long when stretched out and flattened...and that's on the small side.


Could be young ones but I just don't think so.  My hunch is that these are adults.  I found them in two diff pools and they are both the same size, only about 1.5 inches.  I found a lot of small, compact water scorpions, they were kind of cool.


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## zonbonzovi (Jul 15, 2011)

Galapoheros said:


> I found a lot of small, compact water scorpions, they were kind of cool.


I need to relocate.  I look for those every time I visit a lake, but have only found them once.  Mantids of the shoreline.


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## Galapoheros (Jul 15, 2011)

Here are more pics:





Here are the leeches, kind of look like flatworms in the pic but they are leeches, no doubt.





water scorps, some planeria on the rock also.











Some might think the smaller ones are nymphs of the bigger sps above but I found some with full wings.


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## zonbonzovi (Jul 15, 2011)

Ranatra & Curicta in the same area!  Texas is calling!


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## LeilaNami (Jul 15, 2011)

I don't think those leeches are the same species as the one I posted if you think they're adults.  We find some like those here except they're completely red or completely green.  Similar coloration though if it is indeed a different species.

zonbonzovi, you know Texas has awesome stuff. But you have *slime molds* and really big mushrooms.   Your state is heaven for mycologists.


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## zonbonzovi (Jul 15, 2011)

LeilaNami said:


> zonbonzovi, you know Texas has awesome stuff. But you have *slime molds* and really big mushrooms.   Your state is heaven for mycologists.


That is the truth- late summer/fall is pretty spectacular if you're a mushroom nerd here.  You know how it is...the grass is always greener and the bugs are always bigger somewhere other than your backyard.  I think I'll have to come visit you Texans sometime during the high season.  Having serious roadtrip fever here:drool:


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