What are these in my pond?

Posts

• bertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697

  May 2022

  Could they be pond leeches?
  

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• Astraeus Posts: 336

  May 2022

  bertrand-mabel said:

  Could they be pond leeches?
  

  They don't seem to match the pictures I've seen online. I wondered if they're some type of fly larvae?

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• Pete.8 Posts: 11,340

  May 2022

  I've been watching this thread as I've got hundreds of them in the waterfall in my pond for as long as I've had it.
  They cling on to the slate despite quite a torrent of water rushing over them.
  I've always assumed they were some sort of leech, but would be nice to know for sure

  
  Billericay - Essex
  
  Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
  Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

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• Astraeus Posts: 336

  May 2022 edited May 2022

  This post from the US - https://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/833446/#b - seems to suggest they could be blackfly larvae.
  
  This site - http://www.fishpondinfo.com/insects/fly.htm - might be of interest too @Pete.8.

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• Blue Onion Posts: 2,995

  May 2022

  Black fly?  https://www.lifeinfreshwater.org.uk/species%20pages/simulium.jpg.html

  Utah, USA.

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• Pete.8 Posts: 11,340

  May 2022 edited May 2022

  Thanks both I think they probably are - there are always a mass of small black flies whirling around just above the pond - I guess that's what they are.
  
  My ankle is currently twice the size it should be thanks to 5 bites I acquired overnight - the itching is driving me mad - so maybe I know what to blame.
  I'll have to dig out my bed socks
  
  Reading this article seems to confirm it - so I can thank Blandford flies for my swollen ankle!
  https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/news/miu-update-patients-with-blandford-fly-bites/
  

  
  Billericay - Essex
  
  Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
  Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

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