48 ETON NATURE-STUDY 



who keep formicaria might be able to throw some light upon the 

 question as to whether these creatures make themselves useful to 

 the ants or not. 



There is also plenty of work to be done with regard to the 

 carnivorous centipedes and vegetarian millipedes. The life histories 

 of but few are known. The young of millipedes, in particular, are 

 not always born with the full complement of legs, and the process by 



which these grow should be an interesting one to follow from 

 a purely observational point of view. Some centipedes are 

 luminous at night, and the exact reasons for this are still to be found 

 out. 



There are few classes of animals which, if made a hobby of, would 

 better repay the young collector who seeks to make records of dis- 

 tribution as well as to study habits than the myriapods. 



In the spring insects appear, which, later on in the year, are 

 seldom, if ever, to be seen. The large bee-fly with its long straight 

 proboscis, which flies about with marvellous rapidity on the first 

 really sunny days, is a case in point. 



