Which Scorpio sounds like a scorpion , looks like a scorpion , but is n’t a scorpion ? Why , it ’s the H2O scorpion , of line , known scientifically asNepa cinerea . These unique aquatic insect have some genuinely peculiar adaptations that have shaped them into furtive submerged hunters with what ’s effectively a snorkel sticking out of their butts .

Water scorpions are also know asNepidae , a family of exclusively aquatic insect in the orderHemiptera , which let in the “ unfeigned bugs ” . That put them alongside around 80,000 other species , includingsuicide - bombing aphids , bed bug thatskewer their mate ’s abdomens with their penises , and assassin bugs whowear their victim ’ stiff like a cloak of invisibleness .

With such entomological freak for order mate , you might cerebrate it ’d be hard to stand up out , but the water scorpion has a very distinctive feature in the sort of a lissom tail - like appendage that – feed their name – wait a flake like a stinger . As it happens , it ’s fundamentally a snorkel .

Known as a siphon , the process can be pushed through the piss to the surface to garner air that the pee scorpion then stores under its wing for later use . Water scorpions take the air through their aquatic habitats rather than swimming , so they trot along the shallow water ’s edge , bunt up , in search of quarry .

They are practiced hunters in spite of their deficiency of swim skill , relying on stealth and solitaire to ambush quarry like tadpoles , louse , and on occasion even small Pisces the Fishes . This is where the nickname take up to make sense , as they are armed with raptorial front legs that are perfect for nobble a reluctant meal .

The hunt is made all the easy for some water Scorpion whose camouflage bodies blend in seamlessly with aquatic environment that are wallpapered with the brownish chromaticity of rot wood , decaying leaves , and silt . coalesce with their Scorpio - similar forelimbs , these trait add up together to create a sneak underwater Orion that helps to balance the ecosystem by controlling universe numbers of smaller prey species .

As it happens , there ’s a whole master of ceremonies ofbenefits to predators in an ecosystembeyond their hunting prowess .