7 8 



ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



Shrimps and Prawns, Fig. 55, are usually small Crustacea, of several 

 species, found in various parts of the world. They are used in this 

 country mainly for salads, and look like small, soft crayfish. In the 

 tropics, the natives are often seen wading about in the shallow waters 

 with a hand net that they sweep through the aquatic grasses, to collect 

 these small (sometimes not over an inch long) Crustacea that are dried 



FIG. 55. A shrimp, Palaemon sp. X%. 



in the sun and taken to market. In many parts of Europe they are ex- 

 tensively used for food. In cans they may be transported any distance 

 and will keep indefinitely, and it is in this condition that they are usually 

 seen. 



Onychophora and Myriapoda. These two classes are of so little 

 economic importance that they may be dismissed with but a few words. 



FIG. 56. Centipede, Scolopendra sp. X%. 



The former class probably has no economic importance other than its 

 value for museum and scientific purposes. 



The centipedes, belonging to the latter class, are said to be eaten 

 by the South American Indians. The myriapods are very generally 

 feared though most of them are quite harmless. The large tropical cen- 

 tipedes, genus Scolopendra, Fig. 56, are poisonous to man, possibly 

 fatally so at times; they may reach a length of 18 inches. The well- 



