CHAPTER IX 

 THE MYRIAPODS AND ARACHNIDS 



The Myriapoda which include the centipedes, milli- 

 peds and their allies constitute a group more or less 

 closely related to the insects and from which the in- 

 sects probably were developed. They have usually an 

 elongated body with many segments and many 

 pairs of legs. There is a well-defined head 

 furnished with antennae, mandibles and max- 

 illae, but there is no division of the body into 

 thorax and abdomen as in insects, the various 

 segments being remarkably similar in character 

 except near the extreme end of the body. 



The centipedes have a flattened body and 

 are furnished with a strong, curved pair of 

 jaws just behind the head at the tips of which 

 opens the duct of a poison gland. These jaws F ' IG 

 are really the modified legs of the first seg- A small cen- 



f . i i i -, J i tipede, Lith- 



ment of the body, and they serve as a means ob i u s. 



of injecting poison into the insects or worms 



on which the centipede commonly preys. The larger 



centipedes are capable of inflicting very painful bites upon 



man. 



The millipeds or " thousand legged worms" are mostly 

 cylindrical in form and have two pairs of legs attached to 

 each ring in most of the segments of the body. There 

 are no poison-bearing jaws as in the centipedes, but many 

 species secure protection by means of stink glands which 

 open along the sides of the body and pour out an evil- 



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