﻿)5'-)W^ 



700. 



NEPA CINEREA. 



The water Scorpion. 



Order Hemiptera. Fam. Nepidae. 



Type of the Genus, Nepa cinerea, Linn. 

 Nepa Linn., Fab., Lat., Curt. 



Antennce insexted. below and a little behind the eyes (1«) ; short, 

 linear, curved, bent upward and lying behind the eyes in repose, 

 triarticulate, "2 basal joints stout, subovate, the latter pilose in- 

 side, 3rd as long as the others united, slenderer, j^ilose, a little 

 attenuated and slightly curved at the apex (4). 

 Lubriim lanceolate (3), as long as the basal joint of the labium 

 and inclosing the 



Mandibles and Maxilla (m) which are capillary, curved and com- 

 pressed, the latter membranous with the back thickened, the 

 former rather longer, closely united, horny, the apex ciliated 

 with short hairs. 



Labium short, nutant, very stout and triarticulate, basal joint 

 excavated above, the rest of the trophi passing over and form- 

 ing a bridge (1, 3), 2nd joint a little the longest, oblong, trun- 

 cated obliquely, 3rd joint shorter, much narrower and ovate- 

 conic, pilose at the apex (2). 

 Head small and narroiv : eyes lateral, very prominent and subglobose : 

 rostrum vertical. Thorax subquadrate, a little broadest at the base 

 which is concave, anterior margin excavated in the middle to receive 

 the head, all the angles rounded : scutel large and trigonate. Abdo- 

 men large, quite flat on the back, elongate-ovate, the apex pointed and 

 furnished with 2 capillary filaments, shorter than the body. Elytra 

 leathery, lying flat, the extremities crossing and indistinctly reticu- 

 lated. Wings shorter but broader than the elytra, folded, with few 

 nervures. Legs, anterior ruptorious : coxse stout, trochanters slen- 

 derer : thighs stout, a little dilated and notched at the base, attenu- 

 ated at the apex : tibiae short, linear and a little curved : tarsi elon- 

 gate-conic, without articulations, but having a short stout horny claw 

 at the apex (6) ; the other legs slenderer, hinder the longest : thighs 

 linear : tibiae linear and simple, loith a short spine at the apex : tarsi 

 forming a longish, linear joint with two slender claws at the apex. 

 Larva and Pupa similar to the Imago, but without wings. Roesel, v. 

 3. tab. XXIL 



Cinerea Linn. — Curt. Guide, Gen. 1078. 1. 



Muddy brown, head with a ridge down the middle ; thorax un- 

 even with a transverse suture towards the base, 2 elevated lines 

 on the disc and 2 on each side of the base : scutel with the mar- 

 gins raised at the base : abdomen scarlet, brown at the base, 

 centre of back and apex pale brown, filaments ochreous : wings 

 yellowish-brown with yellow and scarlet nervures : anterior 

 thighs with one or two ochreous spots and a ring of the same 

 colour near the base of the tibitc. 



In the Author's and other Cabinets. 



