Saxlingham Nethergate, Norfolk Known as “toe-biters”, the water scorpion will pinch unsuspecting paddlers, while preferring small fish, tadpoles and other pond insects
I reach into the tepid, brackish pond, right up to my shoulder. My daughter crouches next to me, hoping I will find her a pond snail shell. Eventually, in the squishy mud, I discover an uninhabited one. It’s small and a little cracked but beautifully whirled. Now we part the duckweed with nets, swishing in a figure of eight, then emptying our haul into a clear tub. A dragonfly nymph eyes us like a soggy grasshopper while a water boatman sculls to hide.
There among the diverse creatures is a brown, flattened insect, only one centimetre long but with grasping scorpion pincers and a sharp prong of a tail. “Will it sting me?” Annie asks, watching it suspiciously in her net. This is the water scorpion Nepa cinerea, luckily stingless and no relation to actual scorpions but equally ferocious in behaviour. They are known as “toe-biters” as they will pinch unsuspecting paddlers, although they normally feed upon small fish, tadpoles and other pond insects. Those pincers grip the prey while their powerful mouth parts suck the victim dry.
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Source: Guardian Environment