SCOLOPENDRA MORSITANS. 183 



* Body with the seginents elongate or sub-elongate, 



irregular. 



Spec. Char. Body yellowish-brown ; feet forty-two, 

 the last two with the first joint spinulose on the 

 internal side. 



Scolopcndra morsitatis ; Lin. Syst. Nat. i. p. 1062; Lair. Gen. Crust, ct Ins. i. 

 p. 78 ; Fabr. En torn. Syst. ii. p. 390. Scolopondrc mordunte ; Dc Geer, Mem. 

 s. 1. Ins. vii.p. 5(33, t. 43, f. 1; Ram. Gen. Ins. t. 30, f. 11. 



Many species of this genus have been described by naturalists. 

 The larger kinds, found only in warm climates, where they are 

 known under the denomination of Centipede, are animals of a very 

 formidable appearance, and viewed with general disgust. They 

 are armed with strong horny jaws, furnished, like the sting of the 

 scorpion, with a small orifice, visible under a common lens, from 

 which a poisonous fluid issues, capable of producing violent local 

 inflammation, fever, and even death. The species here represented, 

 which is the most common, being found in great abundance in 

 many parts of Asia, Africa, and America, may serve to illustrate 

 the genus. It varies exceedingly in size and colour ; its usual 

 length is nine or ten inches, but individuals sometimes occur of 

 much larger dimensions. It is of a yellowish -brown colour, fre- 

 quently tinged with red, the legs and under surface of the body 

 being much paler. The head is armed with very large strong 

 horny curved jaws or mandibles, which move horizontally when 

 the animal bites. The antennae are more than twice as long as the 

 first segment covering the head, setaceous, and composed of several 

 articulations, which are nearly conical. The eyes are eight in 

 number, four on either side, very small, and placed in a rhomboidal 

 form. The segments of the body are numerous, oblong-square, 

 smooth, shining, and slightly marginatcd. The feet are forty-two 

 in number, every segment of the body bearing one pair, which 

 terminate in very sharp hooks or claws of a shining black colour. 

 The last pair of legs are considerably longer than the others, and 

 spinous at their base, on the internal side. — Fig. (a) represents 



