Damselfly larva devours a small fish

See my other video: Damselfly devours a mosquito (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GgUljaQeAk)
Damselfly larvae are carnivores which lurk among leaves or plants, waiting for prey to approach. The damselfly larva in this video clip is Pseudagrion australasiae, an uncommon species in Singapore. It is 23 mm long and the fish is 7 mm long. Once the damselfly larva senses something moving below it, it quickly turns its body around and makes its first, but unsuccessful, attempt to catch the fish with its elbowed labium. If you watch the clip carefully, you would be able to see the fish swimming away from the extended labium of the larva. Soon the fish comes back and this time the damselfly larva manages to secure its meal. The action is too fast for my camera (running at 25fps) to capture clearly. The damselfly larva then slowly consumes the whole body of the fish, except the head.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Damselfly
• larva
• nymph
• odonata
• prey
• predation
• predator
• fish
• SIngapore
• dragonfly
• behaviour
• Pseudagrion
• australasiae

[haan0ubez67]

How magnified is the image? (Thank you for an amazing video.)

[tanghb]

@haan0ubez67 I attached a close-up lens in front of my video camera. I do not know exactly how many times it's magnified, but I think I used 8X zoom on the video camera lens.

[natureman494]

how long did it take to get that shot

[tanghb]

@natureman494 It took about an hour.

[natureman494]

@tanghb what did you use to film it

[tanghb]

@natureman494

I used a Panasonic NV-GS500 camcorder, with a close-up lens attached. Please see 

[jumpone1]

That damsel's got a big appetite!! How many fish a day does it eat?

[hebneh]

Nature in the raw is seldom mild!

[PDMLJC]

@Xenoxander what can i say, damselfly nymph are badass!

[TheXblade123]

And that's the way the cookie crumbles Mr Fishy

[Xenoxander]

what a horrible way to die. Something eats your whole body (head last) and your alive to enjoy every second of it..

[veganacademy]

Eesh I hate how it gets eaten alive, with it's guts flowing out of his mouth and stuff. Nice video, good job!

[haan0ubez67]

@tanghb Thank you once again.