Water Scorpion Nepa cinerea Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemiptera (bugs)	This little creature is called a water scorpion, because it looks a bit like a scorpion, and it lives in the water. However, it is not a true scorpion (which is a type of arachnid). In fact, the water scorpion is a type of insect, known as a bug. Every bug has a piercing and sucking mouth tube.
	Habitat	Water scorpions like the still water of ponds and lakes.
	Moving around	Water scorpions move very slowly, by crawling along the bottom of the pond, but they can also swim.
	Feeding	They eat: water fleas, water worms, water lice and small insect larvae. They catch their prey by grabbing them with their front legs, which look like the pincers of a scorpion. Then, they suck their victim's body fluids through their tube-like mouth-part They are eaten by: Large insect larvae, fish, ducks and leeches.
	Reproduction Nymph of Water Scorpion	Water Scorpions go through incomplete metamorphosis. The eggs are laid on water plants. They are attached by several finger-like projections. When the tiny nymphs emerge from the eggs, they crawl about on top of floating vegetation. The nymphs have hairy bodies.
	Breathing	The water scorpion has a long breathing tube sticking out of the hind end of its body. Every so often, it sticks this tube out through the surface of the water, like a kind of snorkel. In this way, it can breath air before diving.
	Size	Up to 3.5 cm
	Fun Fact	The water scorpion looks like a brown leaf. This camouflage helps it to creep up on its prey.