45 



Besides the Flattened Centipede {Polydesnius complanatus, Lin- 

 naeus), which Dr. Fitch found in a situation where the evidence 

 was pretty strong that it had been feeding upon a green cucumber.* 

 I am not aware that any of the Myriapods have been reported as 

 being injurious to any vegetable of economic importance. 



A few years ago I found on several different occasions a long, 

 nearly cylindrical Myriapod feeding upon the kernels of corn on ears 

 that lay upon the ground. As it is so difficult to distinguish this 

 Myriapod from the many closely allied species which inhabit this 

 State, I will not attempt to describe it. It will be sufficient to say 

 that it measures nearly two inches in length, is of a deep brown 

 color and its form is nearly cylindrical. It is frequently met with 

 beneath shocks of corn and other grain. When disturbed it coils 

 its body in the form of the hair-spring of a watch. As it is the 

 only species known to me to feed upon corn, I have named it the 

 Corn Myriapod. 



As a certain amount of moisture is necessary for its existence, it 

 is not probable that it will ever become very destructive to corn, 

 except in cases where a large proportion of the ears lay upon the 

 ground, such as that which has been wintered over in the field, 

 and the best remedy to be used against them in such cases is— to 

 husk the corn at the proper time (in the fall of the year), and 

 thus have the ground in readiness for seeding early in the follow- 

 ing spring. 



*See his Fourth Report, page 27. 



