history are well described. It will of course be seen that the article 

 treats of European species, but as the habits of Tropical species are 

 similar it will be a useful guide to the study of the Life History of 

 the latter. 



" Millipedes and centipedes belong to a group of the animal king- 

 dom known as Mi/riapoda. These animals are recognised by having 

 legs on every ring or segment of the. body. In the case of the milli- 

 pedes there are two pairs of legs to each segment : in the centipedes, 

 one pair only. It is important to notice these differences, as the 

 millipedes are injurious, and the centipedes are beneficial. 



They are found in all manner of places, both in the field and in 

 the garden, and are especially attracted by decaying vegetation, such 

 as heaps of leaf mould, rotting stalks, &c. They are also found 

 crawling about under the bark of trees and in the soil. The differ- 

 ence in structure is also accompanied by a difference in habits: 

 centipedes are very active and are carnivorous, wdiereas millipedes 

 are mostly herbivorous, and live upon sound and decaying vegetable 

 matter. The millipedes have the mouth formed for chewing, there 

 being powerful biting mandibles with which to devour the roots of 

 plants. Centipedes are provided with poison claws. The bite of 

 some centipedes in the tropics is very poisonous to man. but none are 

 so in this country. Millipedes are often known as " false wireworms.*" 

 but they can easily be told from the true wireworm by the great 

 number of legs. 



Description and Life-History. 



The female millipede (Julus terrestris) deposits her eggs from 

 May to July in a nest made of pieces of earth fastened together with 

 saliva ; this nest is round in form and has a small hole at the top 

 through which the eggs are dropped. The eggs vary in number from 

 (50 to 100. The hole is then stopped up and the eggs mature in from 

 10 to 14 days. The young millipedes have only three pairs of legs. 

 the others appear in groups by degrees. Growth in a millipede takes 

 place by lengthening at the posterior end, the growth evidently taking 

 place between the penultimate and last segments. Miss Ormerod 

 states that millipedes lay their eggs from December to May, but as 

 this does not agree with Sinclair's statements, the observations were 

 probably made on different species. 



The most injurious millipedes belong to the families Julidce and 

 Poh/desmidce. The latter are the flattened snake millipedes. . Tin- 

 most troublesome millipede is Julus pulchellw. This is nearly half- 

 an-inch long, slender, about the thickness of a fair sized pin. pale 

 yellowish -pink in colour, with a double row of purple spots on it. 

 Julus terrestris, another common species, is black and lias a pointed 

 tail. These Julidce feed upon all manner of roots. The smaller Julus 

 pulchellus also eats into potatoes and lilies, often hollowing them out 

 completely: the larger species, according to some observers, also feed 

 upon snails, slugs and some insects. The common species of flattened 

 millipedes, Polydesmus complanatus is of a pale purplish -white to dull 

 rosy tint, and is nearly an inch Long, with the sides notched. 



Centipedes, or Chilopoda, are beneficial, the food being composed 

 of snails, slugs, and ground insects. Three of the commonest genera 

 are Lithobius Oeophilus and Scolopendra. The eggs of Lithobius are 



