234 FEESH-WATEK AQtTAEIA. 



slender appendages (Fig. 146), more than Jin. in length, which 

 are used for breathing. These caudal appendages, when placed 

 close together, have the appearance of only one appendage 

 (Fig. 147) : they have given the animal its familiar name of 

 Water-scorpion, for, of course, it is no scorpion, but a bug. 

 This insect respires by means of these filaments. The larva, 

 with the exception of its size and want of wings, is very like 

 the imago (Fig. 147); the pupa, just before it enters the 

 perfect state, casts its outer covering, which, when shed, is so 

 complete in shape, that it may be readily mistaken for the 

 creature itseK. N. cinerea lays very curious oval eggs, which 

 have seven filaments or bristles at one end. These filaments, 

 which are about as long as the egg itself, form themselves into 

 a kind of receptacle for the egg which follows that to which 

 they are attached. 



Ranatra linearis is a much more curious and less common 

 insect than the preceding. It resembles the Nepa in its 

 antennae, tarsi, and its long respiratory apparatus at the ex- 

 tremity of its body, but it is unlike that creature in the great 

 elongation of the thorax and abdomen — ^hence its specific name. 

 The Ranatra measures IJin. from the beak to the commence- 

 ment of the two bristle-like appendages, and the appendages 

 themselves are nearly IJiu. long. The head is small, but the 

 eyes are large and very prominent. The fore pair of legs, 

 which are raptorial, are extremely curious and interesting. 

 By means of an unusually long coxa they have great freedom 

 of movement. These legs, so to speak, are by far the most 

 active portion of the animal's body. The Ranatra moves slowly 

 and stealthily through the water, either by swimming with a 

 curious motion of the legs, or by crawling over the aquatic 

 plants. Its manner of securing its victims is similar to that 

 of the Nepa, and it is, if anything, more fearless and ravenous 

 than that insect. The Ranatra has very beautiful wings, which 

 it not infrequently uses. "When this " scorpion " has been some 

 little time out of the water, it has difficulty in returning beneath 

 the sui-face, owing apparently to its small specific gravity and 

 to the dryness of its body. I remember once finding in a 

 corner of my study, after a long hunt, a Renatra- which had 



