18 



THE STUDY OF I If SECTS. 



their general form they have some resemblance to scor- 

 pions. They can be easily distinguished by the form of 

 the front legs, which are greatly elongated, and have the 

 tarsi broken up into many small segments; this gives these 

 legs a more or less whip-lash-like appearance. In one 

 family the abdomen also bears a whip-lash-like appendage. 



The mandibles are furnished with claws ; the palpi are 

 very large and armed with strong spines, and the abdomen 

 is distinctly separated from the thorax. The order includes 

 two families, both of which are represented in the United 

 States. 



Family THELYPHONID^E (Thel-y-phon'i-dae). 

 The Tailed Whip-scorpions. 



This family is represented in the United States by 



only a single species, the 

 Giant Whip - scorpion, 

 TJielyphonus giganteus 

 (The-lyph'o-nus gi-gan- 

 te'us). This species 

 measures when full 

 grown from four to five 

 inches in length. Figure 

 1 1 represents one less 

 than natural size. These 

 whip-scorpions are great- 

 ly feared on account of 

 their supposed venomous 

 powers, but it is prob- 

 able that there is no 

 foundation for this fear. 

 Although it has been 

 stated often that their 

 bites are poisonous, we 

 can find no direct evi- 



FlG. \\.-Thelyphc 



fCiganteus. 



