412 



HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



most part, in dark, obscure places beneath logs, stones, 

 and dried leaves. They are ferocious and live upon other 

 small animals. The larger species in the United States 

 occur in the South and Southwest. Some of these, 

 Scolopendra hews and S. morsitans, range from four to 

 six inches in length, with a specimen occasionally exceeding 

 six inches. In the tropics, even larger centipedes are 

 found. One species, Scolopendra gigantea, of Brazil, often 



attains a length of twelve inches and 

 sometimes exceeds this. The long 

 powerful legs of centipedes enable 

 them to catch running insects and 

 other small animals incapable of flight. 

 Their flat, thin bodies fit them to 

 squeeze and wriggle through cracks 

 and into crevices in pursuit of their 

 prey. 



What appears to be the first two 

 legs of centipedes are really the poison 

 jaws or poison claws, as they are 

 Fig. 141. — Centipede more often termed. Each one of 

 reduced eXaS mU ° these claw-like appendages is com- 

 posed of six segments, the last one 

 of which is long and modified into a piercing fang. 

 Moreover, each poison jaw has within it a canal that 

 opens near the tip of the claw and communicates with a 

 poison gland. The contents of this gland can thus be 

 discharged through the canal of the poison jaw directly 

 into the wound of the centipede's victim. There is no 

 doubt then about the poisonous nature of these animals. 

 The only question is regarding the effect of the poison 

 on man. 



