﻿760 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  rotten 
  cabbage-stalks 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  March 
  I 
  fonnd 
  the 
  lulus 
  pilo 
  

   sus 
  among 
  the 
  roots 
  ; 
  they 
  were 
  then 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  size, 
  and 
  had, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  

   I 
  could 
  ascertain, 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty-six 
  feet, 
  being 
  thirty-nine 
  pairs 
  

   on 
  each 
  side. 
  At 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  month 
  lulus 
  londinensis 
  was 
  de- 
  

   tected 
  at 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  wheat; 
  they 
  were 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  an 
  inch 
  long, 
  and 
  

   lulus 
  "pulcliellus 
  was 
  observed 
  with 
  them; 
  these 
  I 
  buried 
  at 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  

   some 
  potatoes 
  and 
  wheat, 
  which 
  I 
  dug. 
  up 
  in 
  August, 
  when 
  the 
  former 
  

   were 
  completely 
  decayed, 
  but 
  the 
  latter 
  were 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  least 
  injured; 
  

   and 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  detect 
  any 
  of 
  the 
  snake-millepedes. 
  I 
  received 
  some 
  

   roots 
  of 
  the 
  scarlet-bean 
  from 
  Ullswater, 
  in 
  Westmoreland, 
  which 
  were 
  

   eaten 
  through 
  and 
  through 
  by 
  the 
  lulus 
  pulchellus 
  and 
  Polydesmus 
  com- 
  

   planatus, 
  which 
  were 
  still 
  sticking 
  in 
  the 
  holes 
  formed 
  by 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  

   cotyledons, 
  and 
  the 
  party 
  who 
  transmitted 
  them 
  stated 
  that 
  thousands 
  

   of 
  those 
  species 
  infested 
  his 
  garden, 
  destroying 
  the 
  pease 
  and 
  kidney- 
  

   beans 
  also. 
  Near 
  Nantwich, 
  in 
  Cheshire, 
  the 
  lulus 
  latestriatus 
  was 
  in 
  

   countless 
  myriads 
  in 
  January, 
  1844, 
  destroying 
  the 
  potted 
  plants 
  in 
  the 
  

   green-houses 
  by 
  eating 
  the 
  rind 
  just 
  at 
  or 
  under 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  soil 
  ; 
  

   and 
  cauliflowers 
  and 
  cabbage-plants 
  shared 
  the 
  same 
  fate 
  in 
  the 
  gar- 
  

   den. 
  Nearly 
  at 
  that 
  period 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  luhis 
  londinensis 
  was 
  doing 
  

   great 
  injury 
  to 
  the 
  early 
  potato-crops 
  near 
  Chester. 
  My 
  friend, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  

   W.'SaunderSjWhoistoo 
  able 
  a 
  naturalist 
  to 
  be 
  deceived, 
  has 
  ascertained 
  

   that 
  the 
  iuli 
  are 
  very 
  destructive 
  in 
  his 
  garden 
  at 
  Wadsworth, 
  where 
  

   they 
  devoured 
  the 
  young 
  shoots 
  of 
  the 
  heart's-ease 
  just 
  below 
  the 
  surface. 
  

   I 
  have 
  more 
  than 
  once 
  observed 
  the 
  snake-millepedes 
  and 
  polydesmi 
  in 
  

   September 
  infesting 
  the 
  roots 
  of 
  onions 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  attacked 
  by 
  the 
  

   maggots 
  of 
  a 
  fly 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  polydesmus 
  injures 
  the 
  carrot-crops 
  by 
  eating 
  

   various 
  labyrinths 
  in 
  the 
  roots. 
  The 
  iuli 
  are 
  also 
  found 
  in 
  pears, 
  apples, 
  

   etc., 
  but 
  I 
  believe 
  not 
  in 
  sound 
  fruit. 
  A 
  few 
  similar 
  proofs 
  the 
  reader 
  

   will 
  have 
  observed 
  appended 
  to 
  the 
  descriptions 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  species. 
  

   These 
  animals 
  are 
  also 
  found 
  in 
  considerable 
  numbers 
  under 
  the 
  loose 
  

   bark 
  of 
  decaying 
  trees, 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  wood-lice, 
  earwigs, 
  etc.; 
  also 
  

   among 
  the 
  moss 
  which 
  clothes 
  the 
  base 
  and 
  holes 
  in 
  the 
  trunk 
  and 
  

   stumps 
  of 
  trees, 
  and 
  likewise 
  under 
  stones 
  in 
  humid 
  situations. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  " 
  Entomologie 
  horticole," 
  Boisduval 
  tells 
  us 
  that 
  lulus 
  sabulosas 
  

   Linn., 
  "sometimes 
  enters 
  pots, 
  gnaws 
  the 
  plants 
  at 
  the 
  necks 
  of 
  the 
  root, 
  

   and, 
  like 
  the 
  sowbugs, 
  makes 
  it 
  die 
  of 
  feebleness." 
  Blanniulus 
  guttulatus 
  

   " 
  is 
  usually 
  found 
  under 
  the 
  straw 
  in 
  strawberry-beds; 
  it 
  introduces 
  itself 
  

   into 
  the 
  fruit 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  maturity, 
  devours 
  the 
  pulp, 
  and 
  remains 
  

   coiled 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  like 
  a 
  small 
  snake. 
  The 
  hole 
  by 
  which, 
  it 
  

   penetrates 
  is 
  not 
  always 
  very 
  large 
  ; 
  thus 
  it 
  often 
  happens 
  that 
  straw- 
  

   berries 
  are 
  picked 
  which 
  undoubtedly 
  contain 
  iuli. 
  We 
  only 
  know 
  it 
  

   when 
  eating 
  them 
  by 
  their 
  cracking 
  between 
  our 
  teeth. 
  This 
  small 
  myria- 
  

   pod 
  prefers 
  the 
  larger 
  species 
  of 
  strawberry, 
  but 
  the 
  small 
  ones 
  which 
  

   grow 
  on 
  Fragasia 
  vesca 
  are 
  not 
  exempt 
  ; 
  we 
  have 
  very 
  often 
  found 
  them 
  

   in 
  autumn 
  in 
  the 
  variety 
  called 
  des 
  quatre 
  saisonsJ^ 
  The 
  most 
  authec- 
  

   tative 
  writer 
  on 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  the 
  food 
  of 
  the 
  millepedes 
  is 
  Prof. 
  F. 
  

   Plateau, 
  of 
  Gaud, 
  Belgium, 
  from 
  whose 
  " 
  Eesearches 
  sur 
  les 
  Ph6nomenes 
  

   de 
  la 
  Digestion 
  et 
  sur 
  ia 
  Structure 
  de 
  I'Appareil 
  digestif 
  chez 
  les 
  Myri- 
  

   apodes 
  de 
  Belgique," 
  Belgium, 
  1876, 
  we 
  quote 
  as 
  follows: 
  "It 
  is 
  com- 
  

   monly 
  understood 
  that 
  the 
  iuli 
  live 
  on 
  vegetable 
  matters; 
  but 
  the 
  

   notion 
  is 
  general, 
  vague, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  found 
  nothing 
  exact 
  in 
  the 
  works 
  

   devoted 
  to 
  this 
  group 
  of 
  animals. 
  This 
  leads 
  me 
  to 
  state 
  with 
  some 
  

   detail 
  what 
  I 
  have 
  myself 
  observed. 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  believe 
  that 
  any 
  iulus 
  

   feeds 
  naturally 
  on 
  green 
  leaves 
  like 
  a 
  caterpillar. 
  One 
  of 
  our 
  smallest 
  

   species, 
  the 
  Blaniidus 
  guttulatus 
  {Geryais, 
  lulus 
  Jragarianim 
  of 
  Lamarch), 
  

   eats 
  strawberries 
  in 
  spring-time. 
  Before 
  and 
  after 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  straw- 
  

  

  