MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 308 



Altogether the imitation was most successful, so much so that I thought it 

 as well to see if the spider also emitted any scent like that of a lily, but he 

 (or she) appeared to have omitted that detail. 



F. CLAYTON. 



Kanchi, 1st July 1918. 



No. XXVII.— ON THE BREEDING HABIIS OF SOME MYRIAFODA. 



Very little seems to be known about the breeding habits of the Myriapoda. 

 The two more important orders of Myriapoda are : The Chilopoda and the 

 Chilognatha. 



The former are well represented in India by the family Scolopendridae, 

 a group of common centipedes. With regard to the breeding habits of 

 these, opinions differ considerably. Sinclair, in the Cambridge Natural 

 History, Vol. V, p. 39, says : " The Scolopendrido' are said to bring forth 

 their young alive, but I think the evidence for this is unsatisfactory. What 

 have been taken for the young Scolopendridce are perhaps the large sperma- 

 tophores of the male, which are not unlike a larval Myriapod in size and 

 shape. 1 have never been able to observe the process of breeding in this 

 family. I have had the spermatophores sent me from Gibraltar as "eggs", 

 but a little examination soon showed me their real character." To what 

 genus those spermatophores belong. Sinclair does not tell us. The informa- 

 tion given by Sedgwick in Vol. Ill, p. 600 of his Student's Text-book of 

 Zoology goes a little further. He says : " It has been stated that some of 

 the Scolopendridce are viviparous. However this may be, the majority of 

 the Chilupods appear to be oviparous. Lithobius lays its eggs singly and 

 rolls them in the earth. The European species of Scolopendra lay (in June 

 and July) from 15 to 33 eggs (about 3 mm. in length) in the earth (3 to 8 

 cm. deep) and roll themselves round them, protecting them from contact 

 with the earth and keeping them moist by a fluid secretion until they are 

 hatched, which takes place after some weeks. GeopMlus also has been 

 observed to take care of its eggs in a similar manner. " Hayek (in Zoologie, 

 Vol. II, p. 172) is more general in his statement. According to this autho- 

 rity no union takes place between the two sexes. The male spreads a few 

 threads on the ground and attaches its spermatophores to the network. The 

 female walks over the threads and receives the spermatophores into the vagina. 

 Verhoeff is more definite. He distinguishes two classes of Chilopoda : 

 The females of one lay their eggs singly and cannot, therefore, take 

 care of the eggs and the young ones. To this class belong, v.g , the 

 Scutigeridce. The females of the other class lays a number of eggs into a 

 hole and surrounds or covers them with her body. Here belong the 

 Geo^philidee and Scolopendridce. 



It is apparent from these statements that our knowledge of the breeding 

 habits of the Chilopoda is very meagre, and sometimes contradictory. It 

 seems that almost every species has to be observed before we can draw 

 general conclusions, 



I have repeatedly had occasion of observing one of the common centi- 

 pedes, Scolopendra morsitana, L., at Khandala as well as in Bombay. The 

 full-grown Centipede is about 10 cm. long, with a metallic lustre on its 

 back, the undersurface being yellow. At Khandala I have seen eggs in 

 the months of May and June. The eggs numbered from 20 to 30. They 

 are elliptic, soft, surrounded by a thin tough skin, and of a cream colour. 

 They were loosely stuck together by some glutious substance and 

 could easily be separated from each other. The mother Centipede takes 

 care of her eggs by winding herself round them and keeping the eggs 



