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24
ANIMALS IN YOUR POND
Mayflies –
There are 51 different kinds of
mayfly in Britain. About 10 of these live in
ponds, but the most commonly found is
the Pond Olive (
Cloeon dipterum
). Pond
Olives are fast colonisers of new ponds,
including ponds in gardens.
To make good habitat for Pond Olive
nymphs all you need is clean sand and
gravel, though they also live happily on
submerged plants, and on the grassy
edges of ponds.
Caddisflies –
Astonishingly, there are
around 200 kinds of caddisfly in Britain.
Most caddis larvae have a ‘case’, made
by gluing bits of plant or sand grains
together with silk to camouflage and
protect themselves from predators,
but not all.
The underwater larvae are much easier to
find than the adults, which are nocturnal.
Watch out for swarms of fast darting flies
with very long antennae low over the
water at dusk– they will almost certainly
be caddis.
Alderflies –
Although for the alderfly adult
life is short, just a week or two from late
April to the end of June, the larvae can
live underwater for several years. They are
one of the predators of the pond bottom,
and are happy living in silty, vegetation-
rich environments. There are only three
different kinds of alderfly in Britain, and
the commonest, the Mud Alderfly (
Sialis
lutaria
), is the one you are most likely to
find in garden ponds. Of all the animals
associated with good quality ponds,
alderflies are the scarcest and most
difficult to attract. However, the better
quality the pond is, the more likely they are
to come, so providing clean water, plenty
of plants and natural edges will help.