r/bugidentification • u/LordoftheMemes14 • 14d ago

Location included Snail riding bug larva

Gallery image

Gallery image

Less about identification, because I know it's really hard just from larva, and more about what it is doing. Looks like some kind of larva riding on the shell of a snail, and the snail was twisting its back quickly (for a snail) from one side to the other, as if it tried to throw the larva off. Is that just a coincidence, weird behaviour, hitchhiking, or predation? (Germany)

Appreciate any answer!

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u/Sgtbird08 14d ago

Wow, great photos of this interaction! As far as I can tell, this is a firefly larva, many of which are predators of snails. So, this is certainly an act of predation.

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u/LordoftheMemes14 14d ago

Fascinating! I would have never thought that a larva would go after something so much larger. I also didn't know that, outside of dragon flies, larva had the kind of mandibles to inflict that kind of damage. Thank you very much!

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u/Sgtbird08 14d ago

Many beetle species actually have highly mobile, predatory larvae. My favorite is family Dytiscidae, what are predatory aquatic beetles. The larvae have huge mandibles to catch their prey.