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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Adephaga » Ground Beetles (Carabidae) » Harpalinae » Pterostichitae » Woodland Ground Beetles (Pterostichini)
Photo#161102
Larva on river terrace
Copyright © 2007 Charley Eiseman

Larva on river terrace
Gill, Franklin County, Massachusetts, USA
January 3, 2007
Size: about an inch long
I found this larva crawling through a mud puddle on a terrace above the Connecticut River. I'm thinking it's an aquatic (beetle?) larva that has left the water looking for a place to pupate... possibly confused by unseasonable warmth. Hard to see because of the mud, but there are projections all along its abdomen.

Images of this individual: tag all
Larva on river terrace Larva on river terrace
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Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 15 December, 2007 - 9:51pm
Last updated 21 January, 2018 - 7:52pm

Moved
Moved from Beetles.
… John R. Maxwell, 11 October, 2008 - 2:25pm login or register to post comments

Pterostichini -- det. K. Makarov
*
… v belov, 11 October, 2008 - 2:19pm login or register to post comments

Moved
I don't think we're sure which this is, so I'm moving to family level.
… Brad Barnd, 23 May, 2008 - 11:50am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Ground and Water Beetles.
… Charley Eiseman, 26 March, 2008 - 9:40am login or register to post comments

I think
I 've seen Dytiscidae larvae with mandibula like the ones in your picture.
… margarethe brummermann, 16 December, 2007 - 2:28pm login or register to post comments

 
Not a dytiscid.
This is not a dytiscid larva, as they don't have anything coming off the length of their bodies. This reminds me more of a carabid or staphylinid larva that might just have been "passing through" the puddle.
… Eric R. Eaton, 17 December, 2007 - 11:59am login or register to post comments

 
Thanks--
That makes sense. I originally assumed it was a terrestrial beetle larva, but seeing some illustrations in an aquatic invertebrate book had started to make me wonder, since I'm not sure I've seen one with projections like that. But I just did a quick Google search of carabid and staphylinid larvae, and they're clearly a closer match.
… Charley Eiseman, 17 December, 2007 - 12:52pm login or register to post comments

Not an ID
What did the projections look like? Anything like these?
http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/392
http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/400
… John R. Maxwell, 16 December, 2007 - 12:21pm login or register to post comments

 
Another view
I think so, but as you can maybe see better in the image I just added, there are two projections at the end, not just one as in an alderfly larva. I did feel like it looked more like a Megaloptera larva than anything else I could find, but I don't know if there are any fishflies or dobsonflies that would be this small when they left the water... The only beetle larva I could find that had side projections was a whirligig, but they don't seem to look much like this.
… Charley Eiseman, 16 December, 2007 - 12:53pm login or register to post comments

 
Projections
Were the projections maybe more "hairy" than "leggy"? Were the tail projections sort of claw hooked?
http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/647
http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/720
… John R. Maxwell, 16 December, 2007 - 2:27pm login or register to post comments

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