NEPA. NEPA. 
Generic Character. 
nostrum inflexum. 
jilte quatuor, cruciato-com- 
plicatae, antice coriacese. 
Pedes antehores cheli- 
formes, reliqui quatuor 
ambulatorii, . 
Snout inflected. 
Wings four, cross-compli- 
cate, coriaceous on the 
upper part. 
Fore-Feet cheliform, the 
rest formed for walk- 
ing. 
X^HIS genus, like that of Notonecta, is aquatic, 
inhabiting stagnant waters, and preying on the 
smaller water-insects, &c. The largest species 
yet known, and which very far surpasses in size 
all the European animals of the genus, is the Nepa 
gTandis, which is a native of Surinam and other 
parts of South-America, often measuring more 
than three inches in length. Its colour is a dull 
yellowish brown, with a few darker shades or 
variegations: the under wings are of a semitrans- 
parent white colour, and the abdomen is termin- 
ated by a short tubular process. Madam Merian 
represents this species, in her Surinam Insects, as 
preying on tadpoles and young frogs. 
Nepa cinerea or the Common Water-Scorpion, 
