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Re: Unusual aquatic caterpillars

Hi Marshall,

    Sounds like you have some caddis fly larvae in your tank. My guess is
they got in there in the form of eggs from pond grown plants. These larvae
are the ones that "hatch" into caddis flies, duplicated in their many
variations by fly fishermen with feathers, fur etc.

    The larvae make a silk tube which they cover with small bits of sand,
gravel, bits of vegetation or small twigs, even snail shells. Most species
are filter feeders, though some are predacious on small forms of aquatic
life. 

    I'm not sure of the easiest way to rid your tank of them, but my guess
is if you kept trout, they'd be gone in short time <g>.

Hope this is, if not helpful, at least interesting....

Ron Barter
Perth, Ontario

see my 100 gallon at
http://www.superaje.com/~mistnfrost/2x100gal.jpg

------------------
on 11/6/00 6:03 PM,  Marshall wrote:

> Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 09:53:41 -0700
> From: Marshall Wilkinson <wilkinso at acs_ucalgary.ca>
> Subject: Re: Unusual aquatic catepillars(?)
snip
> Has anyone ever seen these things? Can we identify them? Ive kept a couple in
> a small tupperware container to see if they
> metamorphose into something.
> These catepillars are quite destructive.
> Any thoughts on this?
> 
> Marshall Wilkinson
> Calgary Alberta
> Canada