4 replies to this topic

[mattknepley]

Do such creatures exist? I can find info on terrestrial stem borers, and on some that specialize in emergent plants like rice. On a recent trip to south Georgia Kerry and I did some collecting at Grand Bay WMA outside of Valdosta. Brought some vegetation home to make a realistic home for the fish. The dominant species of plant where we collected is a floater/shallow rooter type deal that has a pretty thick stem. One plant has what would appear to be an inchworm in it. One that not only scrapes vigorously but also undulates like it's in a flooded chamber, which I believe it is. When it's scraping it thrusts itself out full length and pulls itself back in on itself, much like an inchworm on the move. It appears to flatten itself when it does the ungulation thing. I did make a video, but it is of the usual Knepley quality, so your imagination probably would give you a better picture. I can only see the creature when it's backlit by aquarium lights.

The photos are of the species of plant in question, Frogbit (Limnobia spongia), I think. This is not the same plant it is in, but it is the same species from the same site.

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BTW, this is a great site for Pygmy Killis if you're looking for some. There's Mud and Banded Sunfish, Fliers out the gazoo, Okefenokee Pygmy Sunfish, pickerel and tons of cool inverts there, too.

[gerald]

The Pyralidae family of moths have semi-aquatic caterpillars.  Jesse Perry in Raleigh had his wild frogbit decimated by them.

[mattknepley]

Thanks, Gerald. I had no such idea such things existed until now. Wonder how many I have in my tank.

[gerald]

Side note regarding frogbit:  IME the N.Amer native one (L. spongia) is a more aggressive rooter than the tropical one (L. laevigatum) popular in the aquarium trade.  In a 12" deep aquarium, the native one quickly sends lots of roots into the substrate and fills pretty much the whole tank volume with a thick network of roots within a month or two.  Tropical frogbit can do this eventually, but it takes much longer, and it seems more content getting what it needs from the water column with a short bushy root cluster.  The native one also grows much longer runners when forming new plants, so it spreads over a wider area.

[mattknepley]

I believe it. There are some pretty long tap root on some of these things. Plenty of root clusters and runners, too. (Tap root might not be the right term, but that's the best I have) The collection site had a large amount of these plants in the shallower areas. Glad to know they can be prolific in the aquarium. I like the swampy look they give the tank. Guess I'll just have to do some pruning.