THE LITTLE-PEPPERS AND THE SEARCH FOR THE WATER SCORPION
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR PAPA DECIDES TO TAKE YOU ON A SEARCH FOR A WATER SCORPION?
So, there we were, just being normal and enjoying our day, when suddenly @papa-pepper decided that we should go on a search for a Water Scorpion! Since @papa-pepper joined steemit months ago, he has seen many, many photos of Praying Mantises.
This is a photo of one on Red-Pepper’s hand.
Even though a lot of people on steemit seem to know what Praying Mantises are, because we hadn’t seen any photos of Water Scorpions, we wondered if anyone else on steemit knew about them. Though it was January and only about 41 degrees out, which is just a little above freezing, @papa-pepper thought that we might be able to find one… if we looked.
For years he has been saying:
You never know what you’re going to find… but you find more when you look!
Time and time again that saying has proven itself to be true, so off to the cold pond we went. If you want to watch the video of our adventure, we compiled some of our footage, and make this short documentation.
At first, we made an entire trip around the whole pond, without really seeing anything. The only thing we found on the trip was a Caddisfly Larvae. Then, @papa-pepper saw a small Brown Snake in the pond. Here is a photo that Pinkie-Pepper took of that snake, with a Cricket Frog too.
Since we remarkably found a reptile in these cold temperature, we thought that we had better look a little harder. Papa flipped over a paddle-boat and found three small Bullfrogs hiding underneath it. This is a photo that Pinkie-Pepper took of one of those.
Desiring to explore a little more, we looked out in water under where the boat had been. Sure enough, little water bugs were swimming around underneath it, but so far we had still not seen any Water Scorpions, which is what we really wanted to find.
Then, Pinkie-Pepper saw a Giant Water Bug, so @papa-pepper caught that too. Since he had started to look a little closer in that area, he suddenly saw something that completely amazed him. Incredibly, there were Water Scorpions everywhere!
@papa-pepper started grabbing one after another, after another. Eventually, we had caught 20 of them!!!
Physical Appearance
In some ways, Water Scorpion looks like an aquatic cross between a Walking Stick (Stick Insect) and a Praying Mantis. They were created in an incredible way to be very effective stealth hunters. This variety is long and slender, with a pair of wings tucked tight against its back. It has two hook shaped front legs which they use to grasp prey, before they sink their sharp beak into it. They swim with their four other legs, and actually breathe out of two long pipes that extend from the rear of these insects.
Scientific Name
We believe that these specimens are the genus Ranatra of the family Nepidae. There is another variety which looks more like a Giant Water Bug, which is the genus Nepa of the same family.
Hunting Technique
Water Scorpions are stealth ambush predators. They will often just act like a stick, using their breathing tubes at their rears like a snorkel to breathe out of, and lie in wait for their prey, motionless. When a tadpole or minnow swims past, they quickly strike and grab their prey with their front claws. Then they bring the prey quickly back to their head, and bite it with their piercing beak. When they bite their pray, they inject saliva which stuns, or sedates, the prey and helps to break it down for digestion.
Reproduction
After the adult Water Scorpions breed, the females will lay eggs in the springtime on underwater vegetation. They babies will hatch in a month or less, and grow to adult size over the next few months.
Water Scorpion Bites
Though it has never happened to any of us, the Water Scorpions can bite people. Though the bite can be painful, it is not really dangerous, especially when compared to true Scorpions. Unlike Scorpions, the Water Scorpion does not have the capability to sting.
Water Scorpions Worldwide
In the family Nepidae, there are well over 100 species found around the world. Though there may be some living near you, they are not always easy to encounter, because they hide in leaf litter and debris near the shore in muddy and swampy parts of bodies of water. @papa-pepper has often encountered them, but he’s always looking around in areas like that.
Conclusion
Water Scorpions sure to act similar when attacking their prey to the land-dwelling Praying Mantises. A lot of steemians have shown off a lot of photos of Praying Mantises over the previous months, but we have never seen any photos of Water Scorpions. @papa-pepper had the idea of trying to find some, and sure enough, we were successful!
We hope that you enjoyed our adventure and our post about the amazing Water Scorpion!
Also, if you want to see some other great photos from Pinkie-Pepper CLICK HERE.
UPVOTE-FOLLOW-RESTEEM
Great! I also like to observe water insects a lot.
Here in Germany we call Nepa cinerea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepa_cinerea) "water scorpion" (in German: Wasserskorpion), whereas Ranatra linearis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranatra_linearis) as a close relative belongs to the same family Nepidae.
Very cool, thank you for sharing!
I like the posts about wildlife! It's great to see the kids taking part!
Glad you enjoyed it!
It is amazing to see how you educate your children about nature and animal species. I can only congratulate you for this, like every time I am reading one of your posts ^^
We were a little surprized to actually find not only one, but 20 Water Scorpions.
Papa just wants his children to understand the world around them, so thanks for your encouragment!
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