2i8 THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



ages are similarly shaped in the remarkable Gall-Mites, which 

 cause the production of diseased outgrowths on the leaves or 

 buds of various plants. The vine, for instance, may be infested 

 by one of these gall -producing species {Phytoptus vitis). The 

 elongated wrinkled body of this creature is almost worm -like, 

 and the two hinder pairs of legs have disappeared, while the 

 others project at the front end of the body. There are also, 

 however, plant-infesting Mites with sharp piercing cheliceras, as 

 in the case of the familiar web-spinning Money-Spider or Red 

 Spider [Tetranyckus telarius), which is not really a spider at all. 



MILLIPEDES (Mvriapoda) 



In the third class, Myriapoda, of the air-breathing Arthropods, 

 five orders are included, of which by far the largest and most im- 

 portant are those including the Centipedes (Chilopoda) and the 

 Millipedes (Chilognatha). The former are active carnivorous 

 forms, of which something has already been said (p. 132), while 

 Millipedes (see vol. i, p. 396) are sluggish vegetarian creatures. 

 One of the most abundant British kinds is the Common Millipede 

 {Julus terrestris), often found under bark, or else crawling upon 

 hedge-plants. It is a small creature of somewhat worm -like 

 appearance, which coils itself into a spiral form when disturbed 

 or resting. The body is clearly divided into a series of rings 

 that bear feeble, jointed legs, the bases of which are near together 

 instead of wide apart as in a Centipede. The latter arrangement 

 is more favourable to rapid movement than the former, and it is 

 associated with a flattened body and a comparatively small number 



of limbs. A Millipede, on the other hand, 

 has very numerous legs — two per segment 

 except in the case of the first four. Its 

 mouth-parts are adapted for chewing vege- 

 table food (fig. 447), and consist of an 

 upper-lip, two powerful biting mandibles. 

 Fig. 447.-jaws of a Millipede (magni- and a lobcd plate actlttg as an under-lii> and 



fied). a a, Mandibles; 5, lower-Up i i i r • 



formed by the fusion of two appendages. 

 The feelers are short as compared with those of a Centipede, 

 to which longer exploring organs are more necessary than in 

 the case of its vegetarian cousin. A Millipede is devoid of the 



