520 



THE NATURE BOOK 



Multipedes are in many ways closely 

 related to insects, and their ancestry is 

 a subject of much speculation. 



Common " slaters," the Pill-bug or 



MILLIPEDES (JULUS). 



should belong to an insect which so 

 seldom uses them. Another Earwig 

 enigma is the possible use of the for- 

 midable-looking forceps at the end of the 



body. These 

 nip very well, 

 and are prob- 

 ably defensive. 

 The forceps of 

 the males are 

 c alliper-like, 

 more curved 

 than those which 

 belong to the 

 females, which 

 remind one of 

 flat -nosed pliers. 

 The "Devil's 

 C oach-horse" 

 assumes a most 

 menacing atti- 



LAND SNAIL 

 SHELLS. 



PILL-BUG (ARMADILLO) 

 ROLLING UP. 

 (Natural size.) 



tude when come 

 Armadillo louse, earwigs, the " Devil's upon suddenly under a stone, cocking up 

 Coach-horse," oval-bodied, bluish-black his long, dusky, black bod5% and exhibit- 

 and brownish ground beetles, the vagrant ing his powerful mandibles. Usually more 



spider carrying her bag of eggs, divers 

 slugs, tiny land snails with exquisite 

 transparent shells — these are all familiar 

 objects under stones upon the ground. 



Like the " slaters," slugs, and snails, 

 the Pill-bug loves a damp situation When 

 danger threatens the " slater " remains 

 motionless, feigning death, but the Pill- 

 bug instantly rolls itself up, the hard, 

 horny plates of its back forming the 

 surface of the " pill." 



There is a general resemblance between 

 these two " passive resisters." Both are 

 crustaceans, but, unlike the majority of 

 the crab and shrimp community, they 

 have adopted terrestrial life. 



Looking at an Earwig, nobody would 

 imagine it to be possessed of wings ; but 

 if we will overcome a little prejudice and 

 examine one of these insects carefully, 

 we shall discover, underneath two small 

 leathery shields upon its back, the organs 

 of flight, each one folded up crosswise 

 and lengthways into a compact little 

 parcel. 



These wings, when unfolded and spread 

 out — no easy matter — are exceedingly 

 delicate and beautifully veined mem- 

 branes, and in shape singularly suggestix'e 

 of the human ears. It is odd that such 

 exquisite and intricately folded wings 



than an inch in length, 

 build somewhat like an 

 the pincers, this insect 

 largest members of the 

 family. Some of the 

 beetles 



and in general 

 Earwig without 

 is one of the 

 " rove beetle " 

 smaller " rove 



lead very strange lives. One 

 species dweUs unmolested in the nest of 

 the sand-martin ; two others — Atemeles 

 and the Lomechusa — are the guests of 

 those social wonders, the Ants. 



THREE GROUND BEETLES AND A "DEVIL'S 



COACH-HORSE." 



(Natural size.) 



Under the flat fragments of rock 

 scattered about on sun-exjx)sed slopes, 

 on hillsides, and in the vicinity of woods. 



