This larva was captured at the same time as the Rhantus frontalis specimen on this website. I initially thought it would be a larva of that species. But this turned out not to be correct, when I checked it with an identification table: Rhantus larvae have many more bristles on the tail appendages, the urogomphi (van Nieuwenhuijzen, A. & van Maanen, B., 2007). This is clearly visible, for example, in this picture of a R. suturalis larva, the urogomphi of R. frontalis are even more densely 'hairy'.

Years later I made another attempt to identify it and found a detailed table (van Nieuwenhuijzen, A. & van Maanen, B., 2010). This made it possible to identify this larva as Agabus undulatus with considerable certainty . (It turned out later: the 2007 table should also have been clear enough).

The image of the swimming hairs on the legs already pointed in the right direction, but in particular the characteristic color pattern on the head, together with the shape, made the determination as easy as comparing it with a picture in a field guide, because the table has been enriched with clear color photos in a comparative overview! Below (faintly) the bristles of the clypeus, there should be about 12 or 13 of them. With a few other photos, that seemed to be quite correct, at least not the 15-19 of A. labiatus according to the table.

Below is the larva from the side, with the abdominal segments numbered. The three segments in front, are those of the thorax.

Please click on the pictures below to see the other pages on Agabus undulatus.

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