﻿300 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Leptodesmus 
  sp. 
  ? 
  

  

  Thousand-legged 
  Worm 
  Infesting 
  Green-houses. 
  

   (Class 
  Myriapoda 
  : 
  Ord. 
  Chilognatha 
  : 
  Fam. 
  Polydesmid^.) 
  

  

  A 
  gentleman 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  some 
  private 
  greenhouses 
  in 
  Kansas 
  City- 
  

   made 
  complaint 
  of 
  " 
  a 
  pestiferous, 
  repulsive 
  pest" 
  which 
  is 
  proving 
  very 
  

   injurious, 
  and 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  been 
  possible 
  to 
  control. 
  Accompanying 
  

   the 
  specimens 
  sent 
  he 
  has 
  written 
  : 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  used 
  ammonia 
  — 
  one 
  tablespoonful 
  to 
  four 
  quarts 
  of 
  water, 
  

   soapsuds, 
  and 
  slacked 
  Ume. 
  We 
  have 
  taken 
  off 
  the 
  pots 
  from 
  the 
  benches 
  

   in 
  this 
  particular 
  house 
  and 
  covered 
  them 
  with 
  powdered 
  lime 
  — 
  then 
  

   put 
  on 
  two 
  inches 
  of 
  cinders 
  and 
  replaced 
  the 
  pots, 
  and 
  still 
  the 
  worms 
  

   come, 
  lying 
  under 
  each 
  pot 
  on 
  top 
  of 
  the 
  cinders. 
  The 
  benches 
  were 
  also 
  

   cleaned 
  and 
  flooded 
  with 
  boihng 
  water, 
  and 
  even 
  steamed 
  with 
  a 
  hose 
  

   attachment. 
  Can 
  you 
  tell 
  me 
  what 
  the 
  species 
  is 
  and 
  how 
  to 
  eradicate 
  

   it 
  ? 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  greenhouses 
  contains 
  three 
  beds 
  of 
  earth 
  that 
  was 
  mixed 
  

   with 
  sheep 
  manure 
  from 
  stock 
  yards 
  here, 
  by 
  a 
  florist 
  employed. 
  They 
  

   are 
  evcy 
  where 
  m 
  this 
  house, 
  and 
  nearly 
  everything 
  planted 
  in 
  beds 
  is 
  

   dead 
  or 
  dying; 
  but 
  begonias, 
  geraniums, 
  colias, 
  hehotrope, 
  etc., 
  in 
  pots, 
  

   are 
  doing 
  well 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  the 
  pests 
  sticking 
  to 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  pots." 
  

  

  The 
  greenhouse 
  pest 
  of 
  the 
  above 
  communication 
  proves 
  to 
  be, 
  upon 
  

   examination 
  of 
  the 
  specimens 
  sent, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  numerous 
  species 
  of 
  " 
  thous- 
  

   and-legged 
  worms" 
  that 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Those 
  that 
  usually 
  

   come 
  under 
  observation 
  have 
  rounded, 
  cyhndrical 
  bodies, 
  as 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  

   family 
  JuHdae. 
  Those 
  received, 
  are 
  flattened 
  and 
  spreading 
  out 
  at 
  the 
  

   sides, 
  where 
  the 
  numerous 
  short 
  legs 
  with 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  furnished 
  have 
  

   somewhat 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  a 
  fringe 
  (PI. 
  XV, 
  fig, 
  i). 
  

  

  Description 
  of 
  the 
  Millepeds. 
  

   Most 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  about 
  three-quarters 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  long, 
  of 
  a 
  reddish- 
  

   brown 
  color, 
  and 
  are 
  apparently 
  full-grown, 
  while 
  others 
  are 
  about 
  one- 
  

   half 
  inch 
  in 
  length 
  and 
  whitish. 
  The 
  head 
  bears 
  six-jointed 
  attennae 
  

   sparsely 
  clothed 
  with 
  coarse 
  setae 
  (PI. 
  XV, 
  fig. 
  3), 
  and 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  

   male 
  30 
  pairs 
  of 
  legs, 
  — 
  a 
  pair 
  on 
  the 
  first, 
  second, 
  fourth, 
  and 
  seventh, 
  

   and 
  two 
  pairs 
  on 
  the 
  fifth, 
  sixth, 
  and 
  eighth 
  to 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  segments 
  

   inclusive; 
  the 
  last 
  two 
  segments 
  legless 
  (apodal); 
  the 
  female 
  has 
  31 
  pairs 
  

   of 
  legs, 
  there 
  being 
  two 
  pairs 
  on 
  the 
  seventh 
  segment; 
  the 
  hinder 
  angles 
  

   of 
  the 
  segments 
  are 
  acute. 
  Repugnatorial 
  pores 
  surrounded 
  by 
  slight 
  

   swellings 
  occur 
  on 
  segments 
  5, 
  7, 
  9, 
  10, 
  12, 
  13, 
  15-19 
  inclusive. 
  The 
  

   smooth 
  convex 
  dorsal 
  plates 
  with 
  only 
  a 
  slight 
  transverse 
  sulcus 
  are 
  

   characters 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Leptodesmus^ 
  to 
  which 
  this 
  form 
  is 
  referred. 
  At 
  

   the 
  bottom 
  of 
  th,^ 
  transverse 
  sulcus 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  minute 
  tuberculate 
  ridge. 
  

  

  