524 THE PILL-MILLEPEDE. 



The color of this centipede is yellow ; its head is deep rust color ; its antennae are very 

 hairy and four times as long as the head segment. There are from fifty -one to fifty -five pairs 

 of legs. Its length varies from two and a half inches to three inches. 



Our next example, the Gonibregmatus cumingii, is remarkable for the enormous number 

 of rings of which the creature is composed, and the consequent number of legs which are 

 needed to carry it over the ground. Although this species is only from four to five inches, it 

 has no less than three hundred and twenty-two legs. It is a native of the Philippine Islands, 

 whence so many wonderful forms are brought. 



The rather harsh generic name of this creature is composed of two Greek words, the 

 former signifying an angle, and the latter the top of the head, and is given to the animal 

 because the front edge of the head is formed into an acute angle. The general color of the 

 species is ashen-gray, and the mandibles are black at their tips. 



CHILOGN ATA. 



WE now come to a new group of Myriapoda, where the creatures have the power of rolling 

 themselves up, more or less completely, like the hedgehog and the pill-woodlouse. A new 

 species of this group has been termed ZepJironia impressus. It is a native of Borneo, and 

 was found by Mr. A. R. Wallace. The general color of the creature is rusty-brown, inclining 

 to red ; the head is edged with blackish-brown, and the front segment is also edged with the 

 same color. The surface is shining and polished, and all the segments, except that at the end 

 of the body, are marked with deep longitudinal impressions. For this reason, I call the 

 species "impressus." Its length is nearly two inches. 



Before leaving these creatures, it may be as well to state that, during the earlier stages of 

 their existence, these animals are much less perfect than when they have reached adult age ; 

 they have not their full complement of segments or limbs, nor an equal number of eyes. The 

 metamorphosis, therefore, is complete, and serves to show the relationship between the Myria- 

 poda and the insects. 



Some species of this genus are remarkable for their beautiful markings, and the aspect 

 which they present when rolled up for defence. 



One of them, the Actseon Millepede, is a native of Madagascar, and was noted by the 

 celebrated female traveller, Madame Ida Pfeiffer. The surface of its body is very polished 

 and shining, and the general color is a livid yellow. A number of tiny puncturations are 

 scattered rather sparely at the back of the head and between the eyes, but in the front they 

 are more numerous, and along the sides they are nearly as thick as the little depressions on 

 the end of a thimble. The species may also be known by the shape of the eighth to the 

 eleventh segments included, which are curiously pointed, looking as if they had been snipped 

 off diagonally with scissors. 



The body of another species, termed ZepJironia versicol-or, is very smooth and beautifully 

 colored, being of a yellowish ground tint, boldly variegated with stripes and spots of deep 

 black, so as to render it extremely conspicuous. The front of the head, the eyes, legs, and 

 antennae are pale green in the preserved specimens, and are thought to be darker during life. 

 The head is marked with distinct points. This beautiful species is further remarkable from 

 the fact that no two specimens ever seem to be colored exactly alike. On the upper ridge of 

 the face there are from eight to ten little short spines. This species is a native of Ceylon. 



These creatures are all natives of the hotter parts of the earth, but there exists an allied 

 example in almost every garden, and certainly in every field throughout the greater part 

 of Europe. This is the PILL-MILLEPEDE (Olomeris margindta). It is found among moss and 

 under stones, and, as it rolls itself up in a manner very similar to that which is employed by 

 the armadillo-woodlouse, is often mistaken for that being. It may, however, be readily dis- 

 tinguished from that crustacean by the simple fact that the legs have their origin on a single 



