My Field Investigations in Biology class ignored the rain and had a great time scooping various animals from Lake Cheston. The finest catch was this waterscorpion. The insect was as long as my index finger. Waterscorpions are fierce predators and will eat both insects and small vertebrates. They pierce the victim with their sharp mouthparts, then suck it dry.
Waterscorpion (Genus Ranatra, Family Nepidae) impaling a dragonfly nymph. The long thread-like attachments on the tail are breathing tubes that the waterscorpion raises above the water surface when it needs oxygen.
David George Haskell 
I am of two minds: the water scorpion is definitely fabulous; however, it has killed one of the dragonfly nymphs that might have emerged to my camera lens. Ah, nature. Joy and heartache all at once.
Annie Dillard had much to say about this…