the time to count a centipede's legs. Most of the 

 common ones have 15 pairs (Plate 117), and mem- 

 bers of two different families hatch from the egg with 

 even fewer, then gain another body segment and an- 

 other pair of legs at each molt — just in front of the 

 last segment. The extremely long and slender Ge- 

 ophiliis found in rotting logs may possess 173 pairs of 

 legs. It hatches with the full quota, as do other mem- 

 bers of its family. 



The fifteen hundred different kinds of centipedes 

 are all carnivorous. The giant is Scolopendra gigas, 

 of Boca Grande Island off the coast of Trinidad in 

 the West Indies, which reaches a length of I 2 inches 

 and a width of 1 inch. It is fond of mice and oc- 

 casionally catches a lizard, but feeds mostly on the 

 larger tropical insects on rocky hillsides. 



The smaller centipedes of temperate climates move 

 quickly, their long antennae reaching out ahead in 

 search of earthworms, insects, and other prey. The 

 flattened body of the centipede and the fact that its 

 legs are attached at the sides permit the animal to slip 

 easily in and out of crevices while hunting. Victims 

 are killed with venom from glands opening in the 

 highly modified first pair of legs, which serve as jaws. 



Despite the usual aversion shown by man to any 

 animal that can defend itself with poison, large centi- 

 pedes are esteemed as human food in some parts of 

 Polynesia. The islanders hold the centipede by its 

 two ends and roast it over a small fire, then chew the 

 toasted middle portions as a delicacy. 



A comparatively harmless member of many 

 households throughout the world is the cosmo- 

 politan house centipede Sciitigera forceps, whose 

 fifteen pairs of banded legs are so very long and 

 slender that the creature holds them in a bent po- 

 sition, suggesting a multilegged spider. The body it- 

 self may be 2 inches long, light brown with three 

 dark lengthwise stripes. Although Sciitigera rarely 

 bites a human being, it can do so if roughly handled. 

 Its venom causes a reaction comparable to a wasp 

 sting. 



A few centipedes can be seen at night by their own 

 light, but the significance of the light is still unknown. 

 Geophiliis electriciis, one of this luminescent kind, 

 with a very long, threadlike body, is found in many 

 parts of Europe. 



The Millipedes 



( Class Diplopoda ) 



The common name millipede ("thousand- 

 legged") is a far less accurate description of these 

 animals than is the class name, which indicates that 

 each segment of the creature's body bears a double 

 pair of legs (Plate 116). A millipede with fifty seg- 

 ments to the body, hence two hundred legs, is an 



Many of the common cylindrical millipedes curl up 

 like a watch spring if disturbed. The head is at the 

 center of the spiral, and the animal lies on its side — 

 a position in which the armored back protects the 

 many legs. (Pennsylvania. Lorus and Margery Milne) 



especially long one. Most possess between thirty and 

 forty segments and bear the jointed legs along the 

 underside of the cylindrical body. When disturbed, a 

 millipede may curl up on its side like a watch spring, 

 with the head at the center of the spiral and the legs 

 protected by the armored body. 



No one need fear to handle a millipede and to 

 watch the waves of movement sweep along its legs. 

 These animals are mostly harmless scavengers, eating 

 decaying plant material. They have no venom, al- 

 though some millipedes include hydrocyanic acid in 

 their scent glands and might poison a mouse that ate 

 too many of them. The scent glands appear to pro- 

 duce an odor unpleasant to some potential enemies. 



In wet weather millipedes sometimes attack living 

 vegetation and damage crops, particularly subter- 

 ranean roots and tubers. Jiiliis terrestris, a burrowing 

 kind, is often called a "wireworm" and regarded as a 

 mild pest. Occasionally it causes serious losses by eat- 

 ing the sprouts from seed grain as the crop emerges 

 through the ground. This species shows some par- 

 ental care for its eggs. The female constructs a dome- 

 shaped nest from earth mixed with salivary secretion, 

 and lays her eggs through the hole at the top of the 

 dome. The nest is then sealed with another bit of the 



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