These are free-swimming larvae of so called phantom midges or lake flies and inhabit the area between the bottom and the surface of ditches. They are hunters of small crustaceans such as daphnia and cyclops. These animals are practically transparent, and are therefore also called glass larvae. (For the sake of clarity, the preparation has been stained)
With the help of air bubbles in the fore and abdomen, they remain in balance with the water and float unseen through ditches, swimming with leaping movements. They grow to about 1 cm to 1.5 cm long. When two larvae meet each other, a tumble around each other occurs.
These insects can also survive in polluted and oxygen-poor water and tolerate slightly brackish water. Chaoborus ambushes its prey and grabs larger animals with its large catcher.
They serve as food for many fish, sticklebacks, salamanders, shrimp and water insects, such as the predaceous diving beetle larva. Some animals have difficulty perceiving them, salamanders for example.
These insects contain far fewer calories than red or blood midge larvae (Chironomus) and are therefore relatively expensive as food for fish and other aquatic animals.
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Interesting larvae indeed. I was rewarded first price in a contest of a photo of a Chaoborus crystallinus. See https://www.facebook.com/groups/ngvmopengroep
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