Nepa (genus)

For the village in Nepal, see Nepa.
Nepa
Nepa cinerea
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Infraorder: Nepomorpha
Family: Nepidae
Genus: Nepa
Linnaeus, 1758[1]

Nepa is a genus belonging to the family Nepidae, known as water scorpions.

They are oval-bodied, aquatic insects with raptorial front legs. Like other members of the Nepidae, they have a pair of nonretractable cerci-like breathing tubes on the terminal abdominal segment, a characteristic which readily distinguishes them from the Belostomatidae. Their primary staples are other insects and small aquatic vertebrates. They can inflict a painful bite when handled.[2]

Etymology

'Nepa' is a classical Latin word for a 'scorpion' or 'crab'.[3]

Species

N. cinerea

A partial list of species includes:[4]

N. apiculata is the only species found in United States and is widely distributed,[2] while N. cinerea is found in Europe.

Linnaeus lists a number of species in his initial description of the genus, many of which, if not all, have been moved to other genera.

References

  1. ↑ Carl von Linné (1757). Systema naturae (10 ed.). p. 440.
  2. 1 2 Donald Borror; Richard White (1970). A field guide to the insects of America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-395-07436-7.
  3. ↑ 'Nepa' on latin-dictionary.net
  4. ↑ 'Nepa' on ITIS.gov

External links

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