APPENDIX F. MYRIAPODS. 243 



MYRIAPODS. 



BY CHAELES GIKAED, 



1. Scolopendra heros, Girard. 



Zoology, PI. XVIII. 



Spec. char. — Twenty-one pairs of grallatory appendages, composed 

 of five segments or articulations, and a conical terminal spine, more or 

 less curved. Back bicarinated ; beneath, flat and grooved. Antennae 

 composed of twenty-five joints; color uniform dark-reddish brown; 

 lighter beneath. 



Description. — The general form of the body is depressed, subcon- 

 cave above, flat beneath. It is composed of twenty-one annuli, segments 

 or rings, each of which bears one pair of locomotory appendages, 

 (feet.) The middle region of the back presents a slight double carina 

 and last segment. The intermediate area is rather flattened, whilst each 

 running parallel the whole length of the body, very faint on the first 

 side, is gently sloping towards the exterior margin. At the inferior 

 surface, two longitudinal furrows or grooves may be seen extending the 

 whole length of the body, and dividing the abdominal disk into three 

 almost equal parts. The stigmata are transversely elongated, and 

 situated imnfediately beneath the lateral margin of the dorsal shields of 

 each segment. The insertion of the locomotory appendages takes 

 place immediately above the lateral margin of the abdominal shields of 

 each segment. The locomotory appendages are as numerous as the 

 segments of the body — twenty-one pairs constructed alike ; that is to say, 

 composed of five joints and a curved terminal spine. A minute spine 

 may occasionally be seen at the anterior margin of the fourth and fifth 

 joints. The third and fourth joints are longer than the first and 

 second ; the fifth is always the smallest : these organs are tapering 

 rapidly towards their extremity. In the caudal pair, the first and second 

 articles or joints are longer than the third and fourth ; the first one is, 

 moreover, provided with a spiny process along its inner margin. Its 

 general shape and directing distinguishes it, likewise, from all the other 

 pairs. 



