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Cordulegaster Dragonfly Nymph Pictures



 This is a realy big, dark dragonfly nymph. Notice how "fuzzy" it is--it's covered with small hairs that collect sediment and debris and camouflage the nymph to match its natural surroundings. The greenish cast in some of the photos of this specimen is due to strange lighting during my first night photographing things for this site.

This dragonfly was collected from the Namekagon River on January 13th, 2004 and added to Troutnut.com on January 25th, 2006.

Recent Discussions of this Nymph

Identification of a possible Cordulegaster Dragonfly Nymph 6 Replies »
Posted by IanB on May 4, 2009
Last reply on Feb 10, 2017 by Taxon
I have screened through the images on this site, and I am just having a big trouble identifying this bug I have pulled of a stone in my local river.

It is very large, maybe size 10 or slightly larger, I have found other size 14 bugs of the same shape/style (also in the picture but difficult to see) and when I came across this monster I had to know what I had found. Also, after finding very similar nymphs that are size 14, can this one actually be a dragonfly? Is it just a monster of the 'normal' brown drake? Or hendrickson hatch I have heard about on this stream?

The real issue, is that I don't see a 'normal' set of twin tails, or three tails. (again not the technical term) what I do see (on the smaller and larger bug) is almost like a large paddle, and it uses this vertical paddle to swim in the water. The head is extremely flat, and it has two small antenna (like the dragonfly photo's) and two very small barbed jaw-like protrusions below the antenna and below the eye's where the mouth would be. The back appears to have two sets of wings, (neither have fully emerged) and the eye's are very similar to the dragonfly eye's in the photo's here. Also there is almost no color at all to the fly, it is a very dark mud brown/black. It looks about the same color as all the flies I pull out of the river (except the neon green caddis). Not sure if that is just a characteristic of the river, or the bug (the color that is)

One thing that is not the same, is the abdomen (bulbous in shape in the photo's on this site) does not appear to be the same as the example I have. The bug I have has a tapered abdomen going back to this 'paddle' I mentioned earlier.

More 'macro' photo's tonight when I get home, these are crappy cell phone pics for now.

Thank you for any help!
IB


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https://stillmaninteriors.sslpowered.com/Images/bug.jpg

ReplyGenus
Posted by DMM on Nov 26, 2006
Probably also Codulegaster sp.
Reply

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