Americana 



tfOL I. 



BROOKLYN, NOVEMBER, 1885. 



NO. 8. 



The North American Myriapoda 



By Lucien M. Underwood, Ph.D. 



In order to call the attention of collectors to this interesting though 

 much neglected group of Arthropoda the following outline sketch of the 

 literature of the American species and synopsis of the genera heretofore 

 recognized in America have been prepared. 



The first paper of importance was published in 182 1 by Thomas 

 Say 1 , describing fifteen species half of which will probably stand as good 

 species in the genera in which they were originally described and others 

 in genera established later. 



Nothing more of importance appeared until 1844, when George 

 Newport 2 published his extensive Monograph in which five American 

 species were described together with the new genera, Theatops and Scolo- 

 pocryptops to which some of Say's species were referred. 



Girard 3 , in 1853, described Scolnpendra heros, the "centipede" of 

 the South-West, and two species of lulus. Three years later Sager 4 gave 

 three almost unintelligible descriptions of Myriapoda giving neither 

 structural characters nor localities. Two of the three species, have, how- 

 ever, been identified bv later writers. 



1 Thomas Say. Descriptions of the Myriapodre of the United States. Jour. 

 l'hila. Acad. II, 102— 114, 1 821 (Reprinted in Collected Writings, Edited by Le- 

 conte, II, 24 — 32). 



2 George Newport. Monograph of the class Myriapoda, Order Chilopoda. 

 Trans. Linn. Soc. XIX, 265—302, 349—439, 1845. 



3 Charles Girard Myriapods. Appendix F to Marcy's Report on Red River 

 Expedition, 243—246, Plate, 1853. 



* Ab. Sager. Descriptions of three Myriapoda. Proc. Phila. Acad. VIII, 

 109, 1856. 



