Uk Water Scorpions

[Deroplatys]

Went for a walk up the local reservoir yesterday and i found a colony of water scorpions in a ditch
The ditch was formed by a badish flood way back, and since then the ditch has flooded and created a small pond with all sorts of wildlife ive hardly been able to see before.
I can only ever remember finding one water scorpion before and that was way back when i was a tiddler and kept it in a pop bottle...in the sun
So i got a bit over excited i think and grabbed a whole bunch
Im hoping to watch their life cycle, i got bunch of various nymphs and 2 adults, i was hoping to witness a full generation and a bit, then release them back, maybe if they breed really well there will be enough for me to keep a couple
Ive just finished transfering them from a small tempory tub into a medium plastic pet pal tank. Their feeding on mosquito larvae, water flea`s (Daphinia right?), and whatever else they can grab, fallen insects, water lice, and the odd water spider. They started feeding in the first five minutes i brought them home
Heres a couple of pics from when i first got them home.

Heres some better photo`s i took a while later aswell as a couple of video`s
Oh and i learnt they can squirt you

Small nymph, maybe pre sub adult swimming

[URL="http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQGRJd_ILU...re=channel_page"]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQGRJd_ILU...re=channel_page[/URL]

Sub adult nymph and a couple of nymphs attacking

[URL="http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgiQ2UqS2yA...re=channel_page"]http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgiQ2UqS2yA...re=channel_page[/URL]

Heres the dump/pond i found them in.

I`ll try and get photo`s of thier enclosure later

 

[three-fingers]

Thats really awesome! I've only seen the once too, at Vane farm nature reserve in a pond.

 

[iSnail]

They look interesting How big are they and do they bite or anything ? Must check out the lakes in my local park.

 

[keenonfish]

They look interesting How big are they and do they bite or anything ? Must check out the lakes in my local park.

Yes they bite and can be quite painful. The worst offenders are water boatman and saucer bugs though.

 

[keenonfish]

Nice one mate this is my all time fave pond critter Not seen an adult for years though - a sad observation of the way our environment is headed I suppose!

They are fascinating creatures. You know these things have wings! However, it is generally thought they are too week to fly, but unsubstantiated. Their relative, the water stickinsect (Ranatra) (common Southern England) apparently readily flies and can be found attracted to lights in the evening!
Sorry you have started me off now lol!

Looking forward to seeing them grow

Olly.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

I am supremely jealous.

If you find a giant water bug I will be forced to hunt you down.

 

[keenonfish]

I am supremely jealous.

If you find a giant water bug I will be forced to hunt you down.

The only place you find them in this country is in pet shops. Haven't seen any for years!

 

[Deroplatys]

Thanks for the comments everyone
I lost 2 of them while they were moulting, which interestingly they do underwater, they both moulted into the jaws of another one
But i have 6 sub adults now and 2 adults, they are in this set up at the moment.

Im making a plastic divider for it when i get the chance, this`ll stop canabalism, plus i can remove it when they are all adult