48 



PRINCIPAL HOUSEHOLD INSECTS. 



occasionally stopping suddenly and remaining absolutely motionless, 

 presently to resume its rapid movements, often darting directly at 

 inmates of tlie house, particularly women, evidently with a desire to con- 

 ceal itself beneath their dresses, and thus creating considerable conster- 

 nation. The creature is not a true insect, but belongs to the Myriopoda, 

 commonly known as centipedes or thousand-legs, and is sometimes 

 called the "skein" centipede, from the fact that when crushed or 

 motionless it looks, from its numerous long legs, like a mass of fila- 

 ments or threads. It is a creature of the damp, and is particularly 



abundant in bathrooms, moist closets, and cel- 

 lars, multiplying excessively also in conserv- 

 atories, especially about places where pots are 

 stored, and near heating pipes. In houses it 

 will often be dislodged from behind furniture 

 or be seen to run rapidly across the room, 

 either in search of food or concealment. If 

 examined closely its very cleanly habits may 

 occasionally be manifested in that it may be 

 observed to pass its long legs, one after an- 

 other, through its mandibles, to remove any 

 adhering dust. Its rather weird appearance, 

 its peculiar manner of locomotion, and fre- 

 quently its altogether too friendly way of ap- 

 proaching people, give it great interest, and, 

 with its increasing abundance in the North, 

 make it a subject of frequent inquiry. It is a 

 Southern species, its normal habitat being in 

 the southern tier of States and southwestward 

 through Texas into Mexico. It has slowly 

 spread northward, having been observed in 

 Pennsylvania as early as 1849, and reaching 

 New York and Massachusetts twenty or 

 twenty-five years ago, but for many years after 

 its first appearance in the latter States it was 

 of rare occurrence. It is now very common 

 throughout New York and the New England 

 States, and extends westward well beyond 

 the Mississippi, probably to the mountains. 

 It is a very delicate creature, and it is almost impossible to catch it, 

 even should one desire to do so, without dismembering several of its 

 numerous legs or crushing it. If crushed under the foot, as one's first 

 impulse would suggest, nothing remains but a mass of intertwined 

 limbs, giving it the appearance of a tangle of threads. If captured, so 

 that it can be more easily examined, it will be found to consist of a 

 worm-like body of an inch or a little more in length, armed at the head 

 with a pair of very long, slender antennae, and along the sides with a 



Fig AQ.—Scutigera forceps: Adult- 

 natural size (original). 



