Centipedes and Millipedes 



25 





THE MYRIAPODA, OR CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES 



The old class, Mjoiapoda includes the Diplopoda, or 

 millipedes, and the Chilopoda, or centipedes. The pres- 

 ent tendency is to raise these groups to the rank of 

 classes. 



The Diplopoda 



The Diplopoda, or millipedes (fig. 13), are character- 

 ized by the presence of two pairs of legs to a segment. 

 The largest of our local myriapods belong to this group. 

 They live in moist places, feeding primarily on decay- 

 ing vegetable matter, though a few species occasion- 

 ally attack growing plants. 



The millipedes are inoffensive and harmless. Julus 

 terrestris, and related species, when irritated pour out 

 over the entire body a yellowish secretion which escapes 

 from cutaneous glands. It is 

 volatile, with a pungent odor, 

 and Phisalix (1900) has shown 

 that it is an active poison when 

 Afte^ ComTtook injected into the blood of experi- 

 mental animals. This, how- 

 ever, does not entitle 

 them to be considered 

 as poisonous arthro- 

 pods, in the sense of this 

 chapter, any more than 

 the toad can be con- 

 sidered poisonous to 

 man because it secretes 

 a venorn from its cuta- 

 neous glands. 



The Chilopoda 



The Chilopoda, or 



centipedes (fig. 14), un- 

 like the millipedes, are 

 predaceous forms, and 

 possess well developed 

 poison glands for kill- 

 ing their prey. These 



14. Two common centipedes, 

 (a) Lithobius forficatus. (&) Scutigera forceps. Natural 



After Comstock. size; after Howard. 



