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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Waterscorpions (Nepidae)

Family Nepidae - Waterscorpions

Classification · Numbers · Size · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Works Cited
Water Scorpion - Ranatra Water Scorpion - Ranatra Brown Waterscorpion - Ranatra fusca Maybe a Walkingstick... - Ranatra fusca What the heck is this???? - Ranatra fusca Water scorpion posing out of water - Ranatra Water Scorpion - Nepa apiculata Unidentified Stick Insect - Ranatra
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Family Nepidae (Waterscorpions)
Numbers
Arnett counts 13 species in three genera in the US and Canada (1)
McGavin lists approximately 250 species worldwide (2)
Size
18-46mm plus a 16-44mm breathing tube (1)
Range
Worldwide, particularly warmer regions (2)
Habitat
Slow moving streams, ponds and similar bodies of water (2)
Food
Raptorial legs betray their predatory nature.
Remarks
Will bite if handled. (1)

The three nearctic genera are Ranatra, Nepa and Curicta. (1)
The thirteen species are listed on Nearctica.com.

Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute has some information on Arizona's waterscorpions including photos of representatives of each of the three genera.

The most commonly found species belong to Ranatra. The single Nepa species, Nepa apiculata, occurs in the eastern states, and the two relatively rare Curicta species are found in the Southwest. (3)
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
2.DK Handbooks: Insects, Spiders and Other Terrestrial Arthropods
By George C. McGavin, Steve Gorton, Louis N. Sorkin
3.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
By Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 6 April, 2004 - 4:25pm

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