‘MYSTERY INSECTS’ - from Graeme Steart

‘MYSTERY INSECTS’ - from Graeme Steart

Wednesday, 16 October 2013 05:38

A trout recently caught by Graham Steart in KZN was full of the bugs he photographed below.

wATER pENNY IN HAND

Click to enlarge

He thought they must be an aquatic species, but wasn’t sure. I thought they may either be an aquatic form of the bug family Hemiptera or, more likely given the absence of legs, maybe a mayfly nymph of the Prosopistomatidae family, but I was guessing.

Herman Botha thought they were water mites, an arachnid species, but I think Martin Rudman has hit the nail on the head. He believes that the ‘mystery insects’ are called water pennies, a lovely and apt name.

Water Penny bug

Of the Family Psephenidae, they are the larval form of a beetle and are usually found clinging to the bottom of rocks in streams and rivers. Trout are known to forage them off the stones, though they are probably not worth imitating.

Water Penny

Below is a link to more images of water penny adults and larvae.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/36131/bgimag

comments powered by Disqus