What is this in my pond?

Question

I have some tiny little insects in my pond that look like they have tiny hairs down their body and move by flicking their entire body around. I can't find pictures of them, what they are classified as, or what they're called! I was just curious as to what they are, if they are harmful to fish or if they are beneficial to my pond...?

Answer 1

From what you describe, they sound like mosquito larva to me.

They are beneficial as fish food – if you have fish in there but if they are not eaten, they will hatch into flying, biting mosquitoes.

The reason you have them, is there is not enough surface movement in the pond. Mosquitoes will only lay their eggs in un-chlorinated, stagnant, still water. You would need to add SOMETHING like a small waterfall or fountain to keep the surface of the water agitated to prevent mosquitoes from landing on the surface of the water to lay their eggs.

EDIT: You can add something as simple as an aquarium air pump with an aerator at the end of rubber tubing. Buy the biggest air pump you can afford.

If you can’t put the air pump and plug in an area where it is protected from the elements – especially rain – you can wrap them in plastic and tape the ends. You want to keep out rain/water but still be able to get air into the pump so don’t make it airtight, just waterproof.

Answer 2

Sounds like they might be mosquito larvae.  Try looking that up on yahoo images and check.  If it is, there are some products that can be applied to control them, but you need to be VERY careful that they will not harm the fish.  Fish are extremely sensitive to most pesticiedes.

Answer 3

They are mosquito larvae. First the mosquito lays little rafts of eggs, these hatch into the little wiggly things you have seen, then they change into a pupa - still swimming in the water but with a different shape and finally they hatch on the surface as adult mosquitoes.

They are good food for your fish and if I were you I would not worry one bit about them. Those that hatch will mostly be eaten by birds.

Here are some links to pictures of larvae, pupa and adult.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl...

http://images.google.co.uk/images?gbv=2&...