
- Anthony Westkamper
- Face to face with a predacious diving beetle. This is the last thing many small critters in the water ever see.
The river is low enough now to wade upstream for miles without getting in over my knees. You have to be careful because the rocks are slippery with algae. The annual blue-green algae warnings are in effect and it is suggested you keep pets from drinking the water. A small camp towel is handy to dry off once you get out to avoid “swimmer's itch.”

- Anthony Westkamper
- Predacious diving beetle diving, showing its legs adapted as paddles for swimming. They are good fliers, too, often landing on shiny autmobiles, perhaps thinking the shiny surface is water.

- Anthony Westkamper
- Same dragonfly larva. An immature darner, species unknown.

- Anthony Westkamper
- Dragonfly larva. Scale on notebook shows size. These things certainly don't look like what they'll become.
It is easy to get up close and personal. I carry an old empty plastic spice jar. They are clear and just about the right size to hold all but the largest aquatic insects, and they won't break in the event of a slip and fall. To hold them for photographing, I use a small plastic petri dish because they are shallow and flat. A small pocket magnifier rounds out everything I need for a fun afternoon. Oh yeah, and I take a camera so I can share my finds with friends.

- Anthony Westkamper
- Mayfly larva in Petri dish. Its gills are sticking out from the sides and fan the water in a rippling sequence like a crowd doing the "wave" at a baseball game. Note algae growing on its tails.
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