CARNIVOROUS ARACHNIDA AND MYRIAPODA 



133 



nature, and in some respects conform to the description already 

 given for insects of similar habit (p. 107). There are three pairs 

 of jaws, of which the first are powerful mandibles, provided with 

 strong tooth-like projections where they work against one another. 

 Then follow first maxillae, each of which has two branches, and 

 these are succeeded by a pair of second maxillae united together 

 in the middle line, and looking very much like transformed legs, 

 which no doubt they are. But a Centipede is better off in the 

 jaw line than an Insect, for outside the second maxillae come still 

 another pair of metamorphosed legs, closely united together in 

 the middle, while each of them bears a jointed curved poison-claw, 

 near the tip of which a poison-gland opens. The poisonous Centi- 

 pedes of tropical countries agree essentially in structure with the 

 species just described, but are very much larger, and possess more 

 numerous legs. Their bite is dreaded by human beings, and is 

 stated to be sometimes fatal. Nor must it be supposed that the 

 food of such creatures is restricted to invertebrates, for they are 

 known to attack small vertebrates of various kinds. 



Among the families of these creatures represented in Britain 

 is one including the Earth Centipedes (Geophilidce) (see vol. i, 

 p. 394), long slender forms which live under- 

 ground and prey upon earth-worms. Their nar- 

 row bodies are eminently adapted for burrowing 

 through the soil, and also for twining round and 

 round their wriggling prey, besides which it may 

 be observed that eyes are altogether absent, 

 clearly as a result of subterranean life. Preda- 

 ceous Myriapods, however, may run to the oppo- 

 site extreme, for in the Shield-bearing Centi- 

 pedes (species of Scutigera) (fig. 401), so named 

 from the presence of a single series of shield- 

 shaped scales along the upper surface, we have 

 forms which, instead of shunning the light, hunt 

 their prey in open view. Possessed of very long 

 antennae and well-developed compound eyes, they 

 are able readily to detect the presence of suit- 

 able victims, and their spider-like legs are swift in 

 pursuit. Concerning these creatures, which by the bye are placed 

 in a special order of Myriapods (SCHIZOTARSIA), Sinclair writes as 

 follows (in The Cambridge Natural History): "Some years ago 



Fig. 401. Shield-bearing 

 Centipede (Scutigera) 



