154 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



The 



antennae, 

 They are 



FAMILY I. SCUTIGERID.E. 



Myriopocls forming this family are remarkable for the great length of their limbs and 

 the latter, and frequently some of the former, being longer than the body of the animal, 

 further distinguished by the possession of a pair of regular compound eyes, by the great 

 length of the jointed part of the first pair of limbs, which project 

 like palpi from the sides of the head, and by the small number 

 of body-segments. These would appear to be fourteen, besides the 

 thoracic segments, but the dorsal plates are enlarged so that the alter- 

 nate ones cover those lying immediately behind them, and thus the 

 body shows eight dorsal and fifteen ventral plates. The dorsal plates are 

 rounded behind and deeply notched in the middle, and in each notch a 

 stigma is situated. The legs correspond in number to the ventral 

 plates, and are long and slender, increasing in length towards the 

 posterior end of the body. The tarsi are very long, whip-like, of two- 

 parts, and finely annulated. 



These curious creatures, although by no means numerous, are 

 spread over the greater part of the earth's surface, but abound more 

 especially in warm countries. They are exceedingly active, and run 

 freely up perpendicular surfaces. The largest known species is the 

 Scutigera nobilis from India and the Mauritius, which measures two 

 inches in length ; the best known European species is Scutiyera. 

 coleoptrata, which inhabits the south of Europe and north of Africa, 

 and is about four-fifths of an inch long. 



FAMILY II. SCOLOPENDRID.E, OR CENTIPEDES. 



The members of this family are more elongated and have a greater 

 number of body-segments than those of the preceding group ; the 

 antennse are shoi'ter than the body ; the organs of vision, when pre- 

 sent, consist of groups of ocelli placed on the sides of the head ; the 

 jointed appendages of the first thoracic ring do not protrude, and have 

 a small claw at their extremity; the legs are of moderate length and 

 inserted close to the ventral plates, which reach the sides of the body ; 



and the stigmata are placed in alternate segments, in the membranous portion which unites the 

 dorsal and ventral plates. The tarsi consist of one or two joints, which are not annulated. 



These creatures, the best known of which are called Centipedes, or Galley Worms, are distributed 

 nearly all over the world, and everywhere they display the same general habits, being ferocious, 

 animals of prey, lurking in dark places and in the ground, and using their formidable footjaws for the 

 destruction of their prey and their defence against enemies. The tropical species are gigantic in com- 

 parison with the European ones, which are not numerous. The best known European species belong 

 to a genus (Lithobius), which is the type of a peculiar sub-family LITHOBIIDES, characterised by having 

 numerous ocelli on the sides of the head, and the second thoracic segment represented by a dorsal plate. 

 Thus there are sixteen segments with dorsal plates behind the head, and fifteen of these are provided 

 with ambulatory legs. Several species occur in Britain, and of these the commonest (Lithobius 

 forficatus) is found all over Europe. It is usually about an inch long and of a shining reddish- 

 brown colour, with the head and antenna redder and the legs yellowish, and it occurs almost everywhere 

 in the ground, under stones and the bark of trees, and in cellars and dark outhouses. 



In the true SCOLOPENDRIDES, a few of the smaller species of which occur in Europe, while the 

 majority and all the largest forms are inhabitants of tropical and sub-tropical regions, the ocelli are 

 never more than four in number, but the segments of the body are more numerous than in Lithobius., 

 being always over twenty. One of the largest European species (Scolopendra cingulata, p. 153) is 

 three inches and a half long, and is found in the south of Europe, and especially in France. It is of a 

 rusty yellow, with the head and antennae and a central band and the margins of the segments green. 

 In India and South America several species attain a length of nine or ten inches, and we have seen 



SCUTIGERA FOHCEPS FROM NORTH 

 AMERICA. (Nat. Size.) 



