What is this?
Location: Muley Point, southeastern Utah
December 1, 2011 2:45 pm
We found these swimming in a shallow pool in a big rock on top of Muley Point in Southeastern Utah not far from Monument Valley in mid-October 2011. I don’t know if it is a bug or not but it sure looks like a descendent of the trilobite. The biggest ones were about an inch long. What are they?
Signature: Royce Carlson

Triops

Dear Royce,
This is a Triops or Tadpole Shrimp, a primitive crustacean that is considered a living fossil.  Like Fairy Shrimp and Brine Shrimp, the adults are relatively short lived and begin laying eggs as the pools of water they live in begin to dry out.  The eggs are preserved, often for many years, until the area is once again flooded with rain water.  You can read more about Triops on the Triops Information Page. 

mud bug
Location: South West Victoria, Australia.
August 11, 2011 7:12 pm
Hi Bugman,
Hope things are good with you.
I was wondering what sort of bug this is.
It lives in the slosh and mud in our back paddock during wet winters.
It sort of looks like a minature version of that Alien Face Bug.
Cheers
Sidney
Signature: mud bug

Triops

Dear Mud Bug,
This is a very exciting letter for us because we were not aware that Triops, also known as Tadpole Shrimp, were found in Australia.  Our previously letters have come from Utah and Russia.  Here is the entirety of the content from the Angelfire webpage entitled Project Triops Australiensis:  “What are Triops?  Triops are a unique family of crustaceans which has been present on the earth for around 350million years, making it one of the oldest in the fossil record. Indeed, the oldest species on the planet with currently living specimens belongs to the Triopsidae family. As well as being a very old form of life, Triops have another characteristic that makes them very special. They undergo a reproductive process known as Cryptobiosis. That means that their eggs lay dormant between rainy periods until better circumstances come along.  It is this feature that has lead to them being marketed as form of instant life pets that require nothing more than an old glass jar and some pure water.
Once the Triops eggs have been added to water, they begin to develop rapidly into adult organisms. This is because of the very specific niche in the environment which the Triops have evolved to exploit perfectly. The natural habitats of these crustaceans are temporary pools formed by rain in regions where the water cannot collect permanently. In Australia, Africa and North America that means in semi-arid to desert regions. In Europe that means areas where the ponds are, during at least some part of the year, frozen. The only continent where members of Triopsidae are not found is Antarctica.
What’s different about the Australian variety?  The Australian species of Triops, known in the scientific community as Triopsidae Australiensis, and colloquially as shield shrimp, differ slightly from their international counterparts. They take on a different colour, ranging from very faint to deep blue, making them very distinct. They also have some slight anatomical differences. Their lifecycle most closely reflects the North American species as opposed to the longer lived European Triops, growing very rapidly and dying after a short time. Although many people have the opportunity to rear the European and North American varieties, the Australian Triops are largely unknown to the instant pet community due to their isolation, and the expensive licenses required to export native Australian flora and fauna.”
One could surmise that since Triops are such an ancient living fossil, and since they are found on all continents except Antarctica, which is most likely due to its inhospitable climate, that they lend credence to theory of the primal continent Pangaea.

Triops

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Bug with claws and many legs
Location: Tarpon Springs, FL
April 1, 2011 12:49 am
Hello,
I live in Tarpon Springs and we just had a huge rain storm today. Well, when I left the house to go to the store, I found this huge crab like bug sitting on the driveway. It was maybe about 3 inches long, had claws and I noticed many legs when I flipped it over with my foot. Can you please identify this curious looking creature?
Signature: Joey Tooze

Crayfish

Hi Joey,
This freshwater crustacean is commonly called a Crayfish, though it has many other common names, some quite localized in their use, including Crawfish, Crawdad and Clawfish.  We are amused at the name you used to title your photographs and we think that Clawbug is probably a name that is used by some people when talking about the Crayfish.

Thank you!!!  Btw, Awesome site!