Back in October I wrote about a common species of shopping cart in our neighbourhood. This feral cart has an aquatic stage of its life cycle that it spends in small streams and creeks. This week I managed to capture an image of a juvenile Crimson Wanderer nymph.

Crimson Wanderer Nymph

Classification: B/1, B/21

The nymphs tend to be solitary creatures, eking out a quiet existence in small streams throughout urban areas. A filter feeder, note the large basket that the nymph uses to filter plastic bags and other detritus out of the flowing stream. After two years in water, the nymph finally emerges as an adult and gathers with other Crimson Wanderers to form small feeding herds.

This is the fourth species account of the Vancouver Island Shopping Carts series. Julian Montague at The Stray Shopping Cart Project has developed a method of classifying stray carts that might be of interest to those wanting to learn more about species of carts in their own area. Researchers should also consult Rock, Paper, Lizard for detailed species accounts of Lower Mainland/Vancouver carts.