About Nepa cinerea Linnaeus, 1758
Nepa cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 is a species of water scorpion belonging to the family Nepidae. It can be found across most of Europe (including the British Isles), North Africa, and both southern and northern Asia. This species lives in ponds, small rivers, and stagnant water, and feeds on aquatic animals, particularly insects. Adult N. cinerea respire using a caudal process, which is made of a pair of half-tubes that can lock together to form a siphon. When the tip of this siphon is pushed above the water surface, it carries air to the tracheae located at the apex of the abdomen. In immature N. cinerea, the siphon is not fully developed, so they breathe through six pairs of abdominal spiracles instead. The eggs of this species are laid inside plant stems, and each egg has seven filamentous processes that float freely in the water.
