Laccotrephes
genus of insects
Laccotrephes is a genus of water scorpion belonging to the family Nepidae. They are carnivorous insects that hunt near the water surface. They are not aggressive, but may inflict a painful bite if not handled carefully, which may cause a local reaction. There are about 60 species found in shallow stagnant or slow-moving waters in warm parts of Africa, Asia and Australia.
Anatomy
They are dark brown to rufous brown, elongate and flattened, aquatic insects with hooked raptorial forelegs and a long, thin tube (or siphon) protruding from the tip of the abdomen. The respiratory siphon consists of two filaments which are extensions of the eighth abdominal tergum. These in unison form an air duct which takes in air from above the water surface (similar to a snorkel). Air is fed via the tracheal system and spiracles on the dorsum of the first abdominal segment to an air store under the elytra.
Populations
The genus contains two distinguishable assemblages, with respectively Afrotropical and Indomalayan-Australasian centers of diversity. The two assemblages overlap only in Iran.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Laccotrephes” is genus of insects. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Laccotrephes, genus and insects, not as a finished interpretation.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18224042. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Laccotrephes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.