Water Scorpion

Notes:

Water scorpions usually lurk motionless close to the surface, head down, clinging to twigs or pond weeds. Periodically, they back up to the water surface to replenish air. Like the majority of insects, water scorpions are air-breathers. They carry a submerged air bubble that serves as a renewable air supply. Air is trapped by tiny water-repellent hairs on the under surface of the forewings and the underlying abdomen . The trapped air bubble connects with the surface through a series of hairs between the two tail filaments of the breathing tube. When this breaks the surface, diffusion renews the oxygen content of the air bubble. When under water, the animal's oxygen supply is gradually depleted as metabolism occurs. Oxygen and nitrogen also dissolve out of the bubble into the surrounding water.