What is This?!

[Hulka9]

I found some type of bug on my leaves! I've been seeing holes in my leaves and figured it was a shrimp or something, but I saw this guy tonight and thought he might be the culprit! Any idea what this is?

 

[Khuligirl93]

Looks like an adult riffle beetle! They are very common in streams and creeks, we would collect them all the time in my stream ecology research class; both adults and larvae. The larvae look like meal worms. Very prevalent in even the most polluted creeks. I'm not sure what their diet is, but you should probably scoop him out next time you see him

 

[Hulka9]

I killed that one after I took the pic. What could've caused him to be in my aquarium? I had some blackworms living in it and i added some java moss from my lfs today. Thats about it.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Perhaps the beetle larva got mixed in with the blackworms. Or it came in on your moss. Hard to say really.

 

[Hulka9]

What the Hell is This?!

Wait I also tried feeding meal worms once... Thats definitely what it was

 

[Khuligirl93]

Well, the larvae are aquatic so i doubt it would survive long in the same conditions meal worms are kept because it would dry out and die. I was just using it as an example to explain what they look like. They're actually much smaller than meal worms also.

 

[Hulka9]

I looked up a picture of what a meal worm beetle looked like and it looked exactly like the beetle i saw. Maybe i missed one when i scooped them out. Figured out real fast my fish wouldnt eat them,

 

[Khuligirl93]

What the Hell is This?!

Meal worms are not aquatic. They will not metamorphose under water and the beetles will not live under water.
Riffle beetles ARE aquatic. The larva will not survive out of water.
You have a riffle beetle. My guess would be it came on plants or with your blackworms.

 

[Hulka9]

Yeah I was about to edit my post before you answered. The beetle I saw was a lot smaller than a meal worm beetle. Im pretty sure your right about what beetle it was. Lets hope he was the only one. Thanks for the help!

 

[Khuligirl93]

No problem!