Weird bug things that keep showing up in my tanks!

[hattori]

I keep finding weird bug things in my tanks. They first showed up in a tank that had nothing but a few dead plants in it, and I just discovered one in my firebelly tank. Given that I have no idea what these things are, I suctioned it up and it's now living in a glass cup until I know what it is.

It's about an inch long, tannish/greyish in color, and seems extremely insect like in that it has feelers on its head and it's body is segmented. It has three "tail" pieces.

PLEASE help me! Any idea what it is? If it's dangerous to my newts?

(I'm aware this isn't particularly a newt help question, but I don't know where else to put it! As it could potentially harm my newts, however, it seems okay to leave the question here. Sorry if there's a better place!)

 

[SludgeMunkey]

This is the predatory insect larvae of a damselfly. Damselflies lay their eggs just under the surface membranes of of plants. They keep showing up in your tank from the dead plants you have in there. Remove the plants and they will be gone. Not certain where you are getting your plants from, but you may want to try a different source. These are not harmful to your pets unless they are very young larvae. Adults may eat them, but this does not happen often in my experience.