This
large aquatic bug, with a leaf-shaped body, is a
Water Scorpion
(fig.)
of the genus Laccotrephes rubber. It is a prey piercing-sucking type, and was
spotted in Pagan.
Water
Scorpion
Water
Scorpion
Its
long tail-like appendix
actually consists of a pair of half-tubes which can be
locked together and are used as a breathing tube when
staying submerged.
Besides its huge, dark, compound eyes,
it has
enlarged, pincer-like front legs, which it uses to capture prey, which it
then pierces and sucks with its special mouth parts.