Nepa (insect)

Nepa
Nepa cinerea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Infraorder:	Nepomorpha
Family:	Nepidae
Genus:	Nepa Linnaeus, 1758

Nepa is a genus belonging to the family Nepidae, known as water scorpions.

They are oval-bodied, aquatic insects with raptorial front legs. Like other members of the Nepidae, they have a pair of nonretractable cerci-like breathing tubes on the terminal abdominal segment, a characteristic which readily distinguishes them from the Belostomatidae. Their primary staples are other insects and small aquatic vertebrates. They can inflict a painful bite when handled.

'' is a classical Latin word for a 'scorpion' or 'crab'.

A partial list of species includes:

N. apiculata is the only extant species found in United States and is widely distributed, while N. cinerea is found in Europe.

Linnaeus lists a number of species in his initial description of the genus, many of which, if not all, have been moved to other genera.

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