INJURIOUS MILLIPEDES. 

 By F. L. Harvey, 



For several seasons, radishes grown in the forcing houses of 

 the Station have been more or less covered with excrescences, 

 rendering them unsightly and unfit for market. From one to 

 six excrescences are often found on a single radish, and five per 

 cent of the crop is sometimes affected. After a careful examina- 

 tion of the beds, the injury has been traced to the biting of the 

 radishes by two species of millipedes, viz., — Polydesmus inon- 

 ilaris, C. L. Koch, and lulus hortensis, Wood. *Both of these 

 species have been caught many times with their mouths on the 

 excrescences in the various stages of their development. Mil- 

 lipedes have been reported as doing injury to the roots of corn 

 and strawberries and Polydesmus complanatus, according to 

 Fitch, causes club foot of cabbage. We find no records of any 

 species having been injurious to radishes. While hunting down 

 the above culprits, other species of millipedes were found in the 

 forcing houses and are included below. Though not detected 

 biting the roots of plants, their presence is objectionable as they 

 feed upon organic matter that might be appropriated by plants. 

 So far as we know, no species of Myriopoda have been reported 

 from Maine, and this article may be regarded as a small contri- 

 bution to the subject. 



We are under obligations to Prof. O. F. Cook of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, for the examination of 

 specimens, and to Mr. L. H. Horner of the Junior Class of the 

 University of Maine for Figs. 2 and 4. Figs i and 5 are after 

 Wood and Fig. 3 a camera sketch by the writer. 



* Millipedes are supposed to usually feed upon decaying organic matter. We 

 doubted for a long time that their work upon radishes was primary but from a 

 careful study of the problem are forced to believe it. 



