Andrew

~1 inch at most.

Well, it's pretty much confirmed to be some type of diving beetle larva. He's a fierce predator, too. I threw a housefly onto the water next to him, and he snatched it up right away with those huge mandibles. Can't wait to see how big he gets.

Yeah, it's definately predatory. Ate a tadpole the other day. I'm keeping it, so as long as it doesn't die I'll post what it ends up turning into.

Hey Sparky! Good to see you here.

Go to My Controls, and it's in Email Settings under Options.

Wai hallo thar.

Whoo, it's Chun! Welcome.

Whoa! I didn't know you kept beetles, Yen! Those're some real good looking specimens. What's the species in the second and last pic? Now you've gone and convinced me that I must have some for myself.

Are these native to California? Every year loads of beetles that look like that show up at porch lights and such here.

I accidentally scooped this little critter up when I was catching some tadpoles. I think he's been eating some of them, so I decided to separate him into a separate cup. Can anyone identify it? It's about half an inch long. I'm thinking it could be a diving beetle larva? Or something along those lines.

Awesome! Great photo. Sucks you can't breed them though.

I was pretty excited to see this, actually! I've been interested in beetles for a while now, but wasn't really sure where to go(either that or I was just too lazy to find it). I'm hoping someone shows up here soon with some grubs for sale or something. I'll spread the word where I can.

Saw Peter's announcement on the mantis forum and had to come over and check it out. I've never really kept any beetles, but I'd like to! To keep a long list short, I've got mantids, reptiles, carnivorous plants and some various other critters. Looking forward to some interesting discussion here. Andrew