Help With I.d.

[kev350d]

Whilst trying to catch a pic of some shrimp in my tank my son noticed a section of plant literally walking across the glass (when he said it i laughed at him) but under closer inspection he was'nt kiddin.
There was a catipillar (larvae of some sort) carrying a leaf around on its back and kinda using it as cammo against the fish, i have noticed my vallis getting chewed slightly but put it down to the gouramis when infact i now know what was doing it.

I noticed it would sandwich itself between the leaf on its back and a stem on the plant then it would progress to eat the live plant whilst hiding. When it was on the glass it would roll its host leaf up and huddle inside.

Here it is and sorry about the pic:

Sorry to discribe it best would be a cross between a catipillar (white with white shiny head) that walked arching its back just like a garden catipillar would. Ive seen Caddisfly larva and it did look similar but this had small hairs along its back..

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I'm not sure what it is but probly some kind of bug larvae that hatched. I would remove it asap, as removing it won't do damage but who knows what can happen if its kept in.

 

[kev350d]

I'm not sure what it is but probly some kind of bug larvae that hatched. I would remove it asap, as removing it won't do damage but who knows what can happen if its kept in.

Yep it was out within seconds of seeing it (dont like free loaders) lol and even more so when they manage to get past the rinsing of the plants..

This sounded very much like it :

http/fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/mont...1/msg00129.html

 

[sylvia]

Whatever it is, keep it! Lol Move it to another container with tank water, put it in a warm place and add some plants. If it's a caterpillar, maybe it'll survive... If it's something more sinister (ie something that would use your fish - or parts of them - for lunch), it'll probably (unfortunately) die though.

 

[Ryan_W]

This may be 4 years old, but I found one of these little fellas in my tank this morning carrying a large leaf. He was removed straight away, didn't want him eating my fry!

 

[waterdrop]

enjoyed that Ryan