408 NATURAL PIISTORY OF HAWAII. 



reason are much more liable to be found in bureau drawers, in loose papers 

 and litter, in empty boxes and similar places about the house. When first born 

 the tiny scorpions closely resemble their parent. They cling to her bod.y and 

 are carried about for a long time before they begin to shift for themselves. 

 The sting of the species occurring in this group of islands is not dangerous, 

 though it may be very painful for a iev,' hours. 



The false scorpions*--' are also represented by four minute species, two f)f 

 which are described from Hawaii. The largest species'-'' is about five milli- 

 meters in length, and, as the name of the order implies, it bears a superficial 

 resemblance to the scorpion. 



^IlLLIPEDS. 



The natural order. '-'^ including the so-called thousand-legged worms or 

 millipeds, is well represented in Hawaii. The largest species,*-* which is about 

 two inches in length when full grown, is a comparatively recent introduction, 

 coming presumably from California. So far, it has been reported only from 

 the vicinity of Honolulu, where the sluggish, dark, reddish-brown creature may 

 be seen curled up in damp places, under boards, flower-pots or, less frecpientl.v, 

 crawling along the road in the early morning. They dift'er from the centipede 

 in having the body round instead of flattened and they are also provided with 

 two pairs of legs for each segment of the body. However, the total niunber of 

 legs falls far short of a million. They are perfectly harmless and may be 

 handled without fear. Their food seems to be vegetable matter, such as 

 tender roots, fruits and succulent ]ilants. and jiei'haps any decaying organic 

 matter. 



The class Diplopoda, so far as it has been studied in Hawaii, is represented 

 by at least sixteen sijecies belonging to five families and four orders. Of this 

 list fourteen are described as new and about one-third of the number recorded 

 occur on Oahu. Tv.-o introduced species, one the large worm-like milliped men- 

 tioned above, and the second a smaller tan-colored aiiiiniil with two lirownish 

 stripes down the sides, are commonly met with. The\- have the power of 

 emitting a curious characteristic odor. The other members of the class are 

 usually confined to the mountain forests, and are probably peculiar to Hawaii. 



Sow-BuGS OR Slaters. 



The curious little oval silver-gray creature found in large numbers in 

 damp places, under boards and stones, is usually an introduced species known 

 to many as the pill-bug, slater, sow-bug or wood-louse.*-" But of the order 

 Isopoda there are nine of ten species belonging to five genera, in the islands, sev- 

 eral of which are native. The minute armadillo-shaped arthropods of this order 

 occurring at higher elevations on the islands closely resemble the more common 

 widely-distributed species. Their positive identity, therefore, requires more 

 than casual observation. All of the species are nocturnal in habit and unless 



