N E P A G R A N D I S .
G R E A T W A T E K S C O R P I O N .
G E N E R I C C H A R A C T E R .
Roftrum bent inwards. Antennae formed like legs.
S P E C I F I C C H A R A C T E R
AND
S Y N O N Y M S .
Brown. Tborax, fcutellum, and elytra, varied widi obfcure yellow marks.
N ep a G r a n d is teftacea, fcutello lævî, alis albis maculis venifque flavis. Linn. Syji. N at. 2. 713. 1.
Nepa Grandis, fufca flavo maculata. Fab. Ent. Syfi. T . 4 . p. 6 l.
Merian Surin. tab. 56.
Die grofle Surinamifche, breitleibige Walferwanze. Roef. I n f 3. tab. 26.
Le Grand Scorpion-aquatique. StoH. Cimic. 2. tab. 7. Jig. 4.
De Geer Inf. 3. 379-
III
M. Merian has given a plate and defcription o f this fpecies in her work on the Infedls o f Surinam.
We learn from that account, that in the larva and pnpa ftate it lives in the wa te r, that it is a voracious
creature, and feeds not only on the weaker kinds o f aquatic infea s, b u t on fome animals much larger tlian
itfelf. The pupa ■ is reprefented on the back of a large frog in the water, and is defigned to pourtray the
manner in which it faftens on thofe creatures, holds them between its ftrong curved fore feet ", and ex tra a s
the juices o f their bodies, through its fingularly conftruacd beak. M. Merian fays the winged in fe a came
out of one of thefe creatures on the twelfth o f May 1701.
Every writer on tills in fe a (ince M. Merian, appears indebted to her, for their account o f thefe few
particulars; for though ail the European fpecies of the fame genus undergo precifely the fame changes in
their aquatic dwellings, among decayed vegetables, &c. a t tlie bottom o f the water, and quit it only in thc
« Thefe arc fimi-cmfieta •• unlike the pupa of the Lcpidoptera, &c. thefe fcarcely differ in appearance .
complete infedt, but have only thc rudiments of the wings.
« If thefe corrcfpond with the antenn* of otlier infefts, the Nepa has only four feet.
r manners of life from the