Aquatic Larvae

Many insects which are terrestrial as adults have aquatic larvae. Notorious among these are mosquitos. Most aquatic insects have aquatic larvae.

Caddisfly Nymph

Caddisfly Nymph
Trichoptera

Caddisfly larva build tube-like cases of sand, sticks, leaves, or other material.

Stonefly Nymph

Stonefly Nymph
Neophasganophora spp.
larva to 2"


Dragonfly

Dragonfly - Adult & Nymph
Anax spp.
larva to 1 "
adult to 3"

The clumsy-looking Dragonfly larva is actually a fierce predator, with protrusible jaws like something out of "Alien". Adults are often seen buzzing around ponds and lakes.



Dragonfly
Dragonfly
Dragonflies are anything but tame - this one was blown out to sea and exhausted

Moon Jelly
Moon Jelly - Aurelia aurita

The many creatures on this page are lumped together for the one trait they all have in common - they are all "jelly-like" - soft, gelatinous, and more-or-less transparent. Other than that, they are for the most part completely unrelated. True Jellyfishes, Hydromedusae, and Siphonophores are in the phylum Cnidaria, related to bottom-dwelling Hydroids, Sea Anemones, and corals. Comb Jellies are in the phylum Ctenophora, and are completely unrelated to jellyfishes, as are Sea Butterflies and Corollas, which are mollusks. Salps are free-swimming tunicates, more closely related to us than to any of these other creatures.