The Kraken Wakes

The book (or was it the movie?) which most influenced my childhood was Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Even today I keep one eye closed when I watch meteorite showers just in case the story is portentous. Another book by the same author is The Kraken Wakes, the kraken being a mythical sea monster.

Well, you don’t have to go as far as the sea to encounter voracious aquatic predators. You have to look no further than your nearby lagoon or in this case horse trough. Judy from Limestone, the individual who recently brought us the maggot eating insects found in carrion has just sent in a photo of a water beetle devouring the floating body of a European Honeybee (Apis mellifera). This water beetle appears to be a Diving Beetle (Dytiscidae sp.).

Diving Beetles are regarded as beneficial insects as they predate on flies and mosquitos as well as their larvae. The adults eat a variety of insects, frogs and small fish and also keep the water clean by scavenging dead bodies (of animals!). The young of this beetle are known as Water Tigers and have been mentioned in a previous post. The back legs have a number of hairs on them so they can effectively swim and catch prey.

Enough about the beetle – I am hanging out to see which dead-devouring creature Judy comes up with next.