324 Forty- FOURTH Report on the State Museum 



Occurrence at Ausable Forks, N. Y. 



Mrs. H. D. Graves, of Ausable Forks, has written me of her obser- 

 vation of this same mite upon the walls of a church edifice near her 

 residence. 



The mites were seen five or six years ago, in March? ("during 

 Lenten services "), as red spots upon a cement covered wall of the 

 porch of a stone church at Ausable Forks. Some of the clusters in 

 which they had gathered, as estimated, would have twice filled a 

 tablespoon. They were of so bright a red color that they suggested 

 blood to the observers. In appearance, when examined with a magni- 

 fier, they closely resembled the " red spider " of the green-house, 

 except that they were two or three times as large. The cracks in the 

 cement seemed full of them, so that they were smoked out with 

 sulphur and then killed by applying kerosene. No plausible con- 

 jecture could be made as to their source. The church yard is in 

 grass, with a small elm growing near the porch. The weather at the 

 time of their observation was of a freezing temperature. They have 

 not since reappeared. 



Cermatia forceps (Raf.). 

 , A Household Centipede. 



(Class Myriapoda: Ord. Chilopoda: Fam. Scutigerid^.) 



Walsh: in Amer. Entomol., 1, 1869, p. 252 (in Missouri, and harmless), 

 Riley: in Amer. Entomol., ii, 1870, p. 182 (common in houses west). 

 Curtis : in Amer. Naturalist, viii, 1874, p. 368 (poisonous bite). 

 LiNTNER : Fourth Rept. Ins. N. Y., 1888, pp. 128-134, flg. 53 (general notice) ; 



Fifth Rept. do., 1889, pp. 295-6 (food). 

 Dall: in Insect Life, ii, 1890, p. 315 (at Washington, D. C, and inquiry of). 

 RiLEY-HowARD : in Insect Life, ii, 1890, p. 316 (habits). 

 Fletcher : in Entomolog. News, i, 1890, p. 167 ; in Insect Life, iii, 1890, 



p. 85 (capture of Croton bugs). 

 Hargitt: in Insect Life, iii, 1890, p. 85 (numerous in Ohio, and habits). 



For additional Bibliography, see Fourth Report Ins. N. Y., 1888. 



Additional Notes. 



Since my former notices of this Centipede, which has special interest 

 to us, in consideration of its disposition to domesticate itself within 

 our dwellings, some additional information in regard to its distribu- 

 tion, its habits, and the poisonous nature of its bite, has been obtained, 

 which is deemed of sufficient interest to warrant its being given at 

 the present. 



