THE )il'llJEll 



117 



The harvestmen, or 

 daddy-long-legs (Phal'- 

 angidea) are extremely 

 common (Fig. 120). They 

 are somewhat spider-hive, 

 but differ in having legs 

 many times the length of 

 the body. Their long legs 

 enable them to walk over 

 the foliage of trees and 

 smaller plants by stepping 

 from loaf to leaf. They 

 wander over fields also 

 and not uncommonly are 

 seen on porches of houses. 

 They are rapacious ani- 

 mals, feeding on small 

 insects, and are highly 

 beneficial to agriculture. 



The mites and ticks 

 (Acarina) have their ab- 

 domen united into one 

 piece with the head and 

 thorax, so that the body 

 is round. They exhibit 

 great diversity of form and habits, most being of very small 

 size. All are terrestrial, excepting one group of aquatic 

 mites (Hydrachnids). Thej^ are often of a bright red 

 color. The free-living species prey on smaller animals as 

 well as dead organic substances. Others are parasitic in 

 animals or plants, living in fur or feathers (Fig. 121), and 



Fig. 119. — Buthus, a European scorpion. 

 Dorsal view. Mx., maxillarj^ ; Cephth., 

 cophalo-thorax ; Troch., trochanter ; Tars., 

 tarsus ; Abd., abdomen ; Bla., poison blad- 

 der ; St., sting. From Kraepelinin "Das 

 Tierreich. ' ' 



