This is commonly known as a Water Stick Insect and is surprisingly difficult to see in your tray unless it moves. It is really charismatic and there is no other insect like this in the Great Britain so is easily identifiable from its picture with a long cylindrical body spindly legs, a spiracle looking like a tail as a breathing tube and long modified front legs for grabbing prey . It prefers deep ponds/pools/lakes especially gravel pits/deep quarries with vegetation. It feeds by remaining still amongst weed with thick and straight stems, waiting for prey to come past that it then grabs. 

They mate and oviposit between over wintered adults takes place e from mid April to July and they lay their eggs on the stems or leaves of plants. These will take 3 to 6 weeks to hatch into larvae. The larval develop takes about 2 months to go through the 5 instars and in mid Summer all forms can be present. They are comparatively long lived and may go over a 2nd winter but they have then been found to be infertile. (S&L, 1959). In Norway they have been observed in a hibernation state and coming to the surface when fishing holes have been drilled in the ice (NWB, 2008). When the water levels drop and the temperature is high they will crawl out of the mud and fly to another location. These occurrences have been observed and compared to a red damselfly with the body held parallel to the ground (JD, 2007).

Distribution:

The distribution map shows the line of the Nene Valley very well that has been subject a great deal of gravel extraction. Found in 33 sites and 15 10km squares this is un-common in Northants.

Habitat:

Found in deep ponds, pools and lakes with vegetation. i.e. gravel pits and quarries.

Identification:

In the key this is in the same couplet at the Water Scorpion therefore the differentiating features are a the large size, pale fawn, cylindrical body and has shorter front femur and tarsus. However this is a very distinctive bug and very easily identified as there is nothing else that looks similar.