OTHER 'MYRIAPODS' 63 



Little is known concerning the food of Pauropods. Speculations 

 have been made that the slowly moving species feed on decaying 

 plant and animal material, whereas the more agile types may con- 

 sume microscopic animals (Latzel 1884). A species oi Pauropus 

 has been seen feeding on dead flies floating in a puddle. No doubt 

 most species feed either on fresh sap or the semi-liquid products 

 of decaying wood. Harrison (1914) observed Pauropods browsing 

 'on particles of soil in which nothing in the way of food could be 

 distinguished', and concluded that they were humus-feeders, while 

 Starling (1944) observed that P. carolinensis ate the mycelia of 

 moulds growing on decaying leaf particles but did not appear to 

 feed on dead animal material such as Collembola, Diptera and 

 other Pauropoda that were placed at their disposal. 



According to Tiegs (1947), Pauropoda are preyed upon by car- 

 nivorous mites and false-scorpions which frequently take toll of 

 larvae and even of adults. Nematodes have never been found in 

 Pauropoda and nothing else appears to be known of their enemies. 



The eggs are deposited singly or in clumps in secluded crevices 

 of damp and decomposing vegetation. Like Diplopoda, the young 

 of Pauropods hatch with three pairs of legs, after which they pass 

 through four successive larval stages before attaining the nine- 

 legged adult condition. The newly hatched Pauropus huxleyi is 

 one seventy-second of an inch in length and has six legs, three 

 large dorsal plates and two lateral hairs. Development proceeds 

 slowly and resembles that of the Diplopoda in being anamorphic. In 

 P. silvaticus the egg hatches after 12-13 days, rupture being as- 

 sisted by stout cutting setae of the embryological cuticle. A 

 quiescent 'pupoid' stage with two pairs of rudimentary limbs 

 emerges which lasts only 3-4 days and is followed by four suc- 

 cessive larval stages which have 3, 5, 6 and 8 pairs of legs and re- 

 quire approximately 2, 4, 5 and 3 weeks respectively to develop. 

 The period from egg to adult in this species is thus about fourteen 

 weeks in duration, and the adults do not moult again (Tiegs, 

 1947). 



The life histories of Pauropus carolinensis, P. amicus and Eury- 

 pauropus spinosus appear to be similar. The eggs are laid in groups 

 of from 3 to 12, each egg being perfectly spherical, pearly white 

 and 0-17 mm in diameter. The outer membrane, which is opaque^ .-7-1*--^ 



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