138 CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES 



scopic pest that burrows under the skin and causes such painful 

 and irritating swellings in the early autumn days. 



Occupying a unique position between the ringed worms on 

 the one hand and the Myriapoda and insects on the other is a 

 remarkable genus termed Paripatus. In appearance these 

 creatures resemble the millipedes. They have worm-like bodies 

 furnished with a number of clawed feet, rather like the pro-legs 

 of a caterpillar; these vary in number, according to the species, 

 from seventeen to forty-three pairs. The bodies of these crea- 

 tures are clothed with a soft, velvet-like skin, and the head, which 

 is not distinctly marked off from the body, bears a pair of wonder- 

 fully mobile antennae, a pair of simple eyes, and a mouth furnished 

 with jaws on the under side. They also possess a pair of oral 

 papillae, from which, when irritated, they eject an extremely 

 sticky, milky fluid. This fluid can be squirted to a distance of 

 a foot, and, although harmless, is sufficiently tenacious to hold fast 

 flies and other small insects. These strange creatures live in moist, 

 shady places under stones, leaves, or the bark of trees. They are 

 nocturnal in their habits, and when walking move straight forward 

 as a caterpillar does, and never wriggle like a worm or a centi- 

 pede. Paripatus has a wide distribution, but from its habitual 

 avoidance of light it is very rarely seen. 



The class Myriapoda comprises the familiar Centipedes and 

 Millipedes. These creatures are found in almost all parts of the 

 World ; they are a hardy race, able to endure extremes of both cold 

 and heat, and flourish equally well on fertile and barren soil. The 

 two classes of Myriapoda are often confused one with another, but 

 although both millipedes and centipedes possess a worm-like, 

 segmented body, they differ from one another in many Ways, both 

 in structure and habits. The two classes may always be readily 

 distinguished by the arrangement of their paired legs, the milli- 

 pedes having two pairs on each body segment, while the centi- 

 pedes have only one. 



Centipedes are carnivorous, very active and ferocious, and 

 are often useful rather than harmful, as they destroy many trouble- 

 some pests. Just below the mouth they have a formidable pair 

 of poison claws, and with these they seize and kill their prey. 

 They devour insects and worms, and frequently fight fiercely 

 among themselves. Centipedes vary very much in size and colour, 





