464 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 12 



up a heap of the millepeds a foot in height. He immediately got a 

 shovel and cleaned up two washtubsful from the porch and from a 

 small ditch that extended along the side. Every morning thereafter 

 for two weeks he collected a half-bushel or more about his house and 

 carried them away. The barnlot where the family cow grazed was 

 so covered with the millepeds that Mrs. McDougle left her cow un- 

 milked for three consecutive milking times and the small stone cellar 

 in which the milk was kept was so overrun that it had to be abandoned. 

 G. W. Mackey, a Baltimore & Ohio section foreman, said that he saw a 

 pile of the millepeds at the foot of the cHff two feet in height which he 

 estimated to contain five bushels. 



At the time of the writer's visit there were thousands of the mille- 

 peds crawhng over the face of the rocks and on the ground above and 

 below and showers of them were dropping at intervals over the dechv- 

 ity. They had been present about the McDougle home for more 

 than two weeks and all observers agreed that the number was now 

 greatly reduced. The hot sunshine on the bare chff, and on the rail- 

 road ballast at the bottom, was kilUng them rapidly, as was indicated 



I by the number of dead. In many places at the foot of the cliff the 

 ground was completely hidden by the dead bodies and the stench was 



i offensive. The McDougles had poured lime and concentrated lye on 

 the ground, forming a heavy line around the yard to keep the millepeds 



I from crossing, but with little avail. They stated that neither chickens 



I nor anything else was observed to feed on them. The good woman of 

 the house was almost in despair, for, in her own words, "she had fit 

 those worms with consecrated lye and every thing else she could think 

 of and hadn't been able to do a lick at anything else for nearly three 

 weeks." 



' Neither mating nor oviposition were observed, although looked for 

 rather carefully. Mrs. McDougle had noticed that some of the 

 millepeds were full of eggs and the writer dissected one rather small 

 female which contained 690 eggs. All the abdominal cavity except 

 the space occupied by the slender alimentary canal was packed full of 

 eggs. Most of the millepeds seemed to be full grown although some 

 were noticed whose immaturity was indicated by the smaller size and 

 paler color. 



Reports were current of similar armies at Woodruff, Garrison and 

 Sand Hill Church, all near Littleton, but the writer did not investigate 

 these reports. It is interesting to note that small companies of the 

 millepeds are said to have been seen in woods near Littleton in 1916 

 and 1917. These may have been the progenitors of the great army 

 that appeared during the present year. 



