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Corydalus sp.
We believe it to be an insect larva because it has 6 legs.
I found this in a temporary pool of water in a normally dry desert stream bed that has been filled with monsoon rain. The water was murky and had been there for a few weeks with lots of other life. This animal was swimming in shallow water among tall riparian grasses. For those familiar with Tucson, this was the West Branch of the Santa Cruz River near Mission Road/Irvington.
Spotted on Aug 30, 2012
Submitted on Sep 2, 2012
2 Comments
Thank you, Livan! What an interesting insect. After your post, I searched the internet and found more information (except which species). I learned that this insect stays in the larval form (called a hellgrammite) for years until it pupates over the winter. When it emerges as an adult the following year, it lives only 7 days...just long enough to mate and produce a new batch of eggs. We will call it Corydalus sp. for now.
It is an insect larva. It reminds me most of a Dobsonfly larva, in particular Corydalus texanus, but I'm not 100% sure. See here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/492607
But if not that I do think it may belong to a similar insect in the Order Megaloptera