water scorpion

Water bug in which the first pair of legs are modified into prehensile organs for grasping prey. They are carnivorous and feed on smaller insects. The prey is held securely between their first pair of legs while the water scorpion sucks up its body fluids.

Classification Water scorpion are in family Nepidae, order Hemiptera, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda.

Another characteristic feature of these bugs is their respiratory tube. While the bug remains at the bottom of the water, the respiratory tube reaches up to the surface, thus renewing its supply of air. The respiratory tube itself has quite a complex structure. It is made up of two grooved canals locked together by minute hairs or bristles, which give it the appearance of a single tube. At the base of the tube there are two respiratory spiracles or ‘air-diffusing holes’. This respiratory tube is often wrongly believed to be a stinging organ, hence the name of water scorpion.