. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. XATURAL HISTORY. FAMILY XI.—, OE WATER SCORPIOXS. In this family the ocelli are wanting, tiie antennse are either three- or four-jointed, the body is flat above, elliptical or much elongated, and the hemelytra are furnished with a distinct membrane. The rostrum is of three joints. The fore legs in all are raptorial; the remainder are either simple, fringed, or flattened, but in all cases are used as swimming organs. All the species live in the water and prey upon their weaker fellows. They are, however, well furnished with wings, an
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. XATURAL HISTORY. FAMILY XI.—, OE WATER SCORPIOXS. In this family the ocelli are wanting, tiie antennse are either three- or four-jointed, the body is flat above, elliptical or much elongated, and the hemelytra are furnished with a distinct membrane. The rostrum is of three joints. The fore legs in all are raptorial; the remainder are either simple, fringed, or flattened, but in all cases are used as swimming organs. All the species live in the water and prey upon their weaker fellows. They are, however, well furnished with wings, and can fly readily, a provision which is useful in case of any need arising for seeking a new abode. The common "Water Scorpion {Nepa cinerea) is a very well-known aquatic insect, and is abundant in the fresh waters of all parts of Europe. It is about an inch long, elliptical, yellowish-grey, with the back of the abdo- men red; the an tennse have thret joints; the hinder Wi^s are scarcely tiinged, and have tirsi of a single jonit and the body IS teiminated by a ])air of tail-like oi-- gans, wliich, when put together, form a 1 )i eatl ling tube. The msett is sluggish in itsmorements. The i( male attaches her „'s to water plants. 1 hoy have at the ippei end seven 1 idiating processes. I ho lianatne, which itsemble the pre- (.(dnig in the char- acters of the an- tennse, tarsi, and air-tube, have a They have the fore. LINEARIS AND NEPA CINEIJ very elongated body, whence the British species is called Ranatra linearis. legs much lengthened, and the four hinder tibiae rather more fringed than in Nepa. Another division of the family having four-jointed antenme, two-jointed hinder tai-si, and no breathing tube, is represented in Britain by a small oval species, about half an inch long, of an olive brown tint, known as Naucoris cimicoides. It has a broad, deeply-immersed head ; the anterior tarsi consist of a single joint; and the hinder tibiie and tarsi are fringed, so that the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
