Navigation: wildlife > other invertebrates > pond life > Dytiscus marginalis               Not everyone's cup of tea but definitely mine. This well known and ferocious water beetle is the scourge of ponds. Seen here at Pond Number 2, these will hunt anything they can grasp and spend a couple of years hunting under water as larvae. They rise every few minutes, poking their abdomen to the surface to obtain a bubble of air. That is when I catch them but you have to be very quick. I need to get some film of one of these in a fish tank: May 18th.     Easier to understand and recognise this way. Look closely for the larvae just under the surface of the pond. They also have to rise for air.   top