What is this alien creature?
Location: North Texas
March 29, 2011 10:54 pm
We, recently, bought a house with a pool and when we drained the pool, to clean it out, I noticed these creatures moving around in the shallow water (about 3 inches deep). There were about 5 of these creatures and I caught two of them to take pictures and ask around to see if anyone knew what they are, but nobody, that I asked, knew what they were.
I observed these creatures for awhile and noticed that they have 6 legs and they squirt water out their back ends to propell themselves through the water.
I took these pictures. If you know what they are, can you tell me what they are?
Signature: Scotti B.
Hi Scotti,
This is the larva of a Dragonfly, and like many other aquatic nymphs, it is called a Naiad. We hope they survived the pool cleaning. You can transfer them to another container of water until they mature, or even better, release them in a local pond.
Thank you for finding out what kind of alien looking creature I found in my pool was. It turned out to be a Dragonfly Larva (Naiad). I had never seen one before and it had me stumped. And, by the way, they did survive the pool cleaning. I saved them all and I released them into a nearby pond and I hope to see them flying around this summer.
Thanks, again!
Scotti B.