I'm rubbish at identifying the little things in my pond. I have sussed out rat-tail maggots and water louse but I have a tiny (approx 5mm) beetle seen diving to the bottom and a bunch of stripey darkish-coloured worms that remind me of miniature sea-snakes. They seem to lurk near the surface until I go near and they shoot to the bottom, but as the pond is shallow I can still see them.My frog doesn't seem to be eating them anyway.
Anyone have any suggestions (are they good or bad), also any book recommendations so I can look these things up.
Thanks
Can't help with the beetle I'm afraid - only familiar with the bigger diving beetles and whirligig beetles (the magic dancers on the top!)
Your wormy objects that dive when you appear sound a bit like mosquito/gnat larvae. The larvae hang head down from the surface - their slender breathing tube just breaks the meniscus, the body hangs almost vertical head down - and appears a little "hairy", and there is a definite head. Very likely if you have still water and no higher predators in your pond (especially fish). They disappear down at the first sign of danger (eg shadow) and gradually resurface. You could also then have pupae, more curled and less active than larvae, but still capable of more movement than most insect pupae.
One way to check is to leave some rain water out in a shallow container for a week or two - it should soon gather a collection of gnat or mozzie larvae - its the reason gardeners are always advised to have a close fitting lid on their water butts.
Hope that helps
FM
Thanks fittmonk but they're definitely not mozzy larvae as I also get them in the bird bath and they're much, much longer.
I wonder if I can take a pic...
Could they be midge larvae? They do sound like larvae of some sort! Do they move quickly from side to side forming 'S' shapes each time?
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yes they do wiggle like that, maybe they're not as long as I think they are. Will have another look and see if I can catch one perhaps
Hi ffroglet
Good question. Once you start looking into a pond, it's amazing just how much stuff there is in there.
I've had a garden pond for the past two years. I love it almost as much as life itself :o)
I've got a couple of books which have been useful for identifying pondlife. One is the Observer's Book of Pond Life, which you can pick up online for a few quid (try abebooks.co.uk or Amazon). Though it's quite old, it's still really good.
The other one is Small Freshwater Creatures by Lars-Henrik Olsen (published by OUP). It costs about £35 but is well worth it - maybe as a special birthday treat for yourself.
To get to know your pond's inhabitants better, I'd also recommend buying a pond-dipping kit. You can get those online from about £15. I got an identification key with the one I bought., which I think is the Field Studies Council's wipe-clean Freshwater Name Trail (£2.75).
I know it's mostly kids that do pond-dipping, but more adults should - it's great fun!
Here's a beetle larva I found (probably a lesser diving beetle)
Thanks very much Katie I will look those books up.
I have found some midge larvae, they're very red but they're still not these other wigglers in my pond.
I can't catch any but got a good look in amoment whent he sun came out .They're about 4cm or so long, less than 1mm wide and have thin light and dark horizontal stripes all the way up
Ok got hold of an FSC chart and it looks like 'worms'. Unspecified. More info may be forthcoming when the books arrive