Order PSEUDOSCORPIONIDAE 
False scorpions 
False scorpions bear a striking resemblance to their larger rel- 
atives, the true scorpions, but differ in having wider, shorter 
abdomens and in not having terminal poison glands. They are 
seldom more than 5 mm. long. 
Pseudoscorpions may be found in a wide variety of places—in 
soil cover, under bark, under the wings of beetles, on the bodies 
of birds and in their nests, in buildings, and in chicken houses 
and beehives. Their food consists of mites, ants, and various other 
insects. They have also been reported as biting man but without 
inflicting appreciable injury. One species, Chelifer cancroides 
(Linn.), is frequently found in association with man. Adults are 
about 2.5 to 3 mm. long (860). 
Order PHALANGIDA 
Daddy-long-legs 
Daddy-long-legs are somewhat similar in appearance to spiders 
but differ in having small, compact, nearly globular bodies and 
extremely long legs. They also are rather slow in movement, usu- 
ally appearing to totter about, and they occur commonly in most 
parts of the United States. Their food consists chiefly of plant 
juices or dead insects. Some apparently feed on living insects. 
When crushed, their bodies give off a disagreeable odor. None are 
harmful to man. 
Phylum MOLLUSCA 
Shipworms 
Wood submerged in salt water is attacked by several species of 
bivalve mollusks, commonly known as shipworms. Damage to 
pilings is often severe, especially along the Gulf Coast and along 
the Atlantic Coast south of the Chesapeake Bay. Boats are also 
damaged occasionally. These organisms are discussed briefly be- 
cause the damage they cause is similar to and often confused with 
that caused by wood-boring insects. 
The genera Teredo and Bankia contain the so-called shipworms. 
Their bodies are long and soft. They are armed with small, chisel- 
like shells at the anterior end and there are two siphon tubes at 
the posterior end. They are free-swimmers in the early larval 
stage, and during this period the body is protected by a bivalve 
shell. Free-swimming larvae seek out wood and attach themselves 
to it near the mud line. Then they bore into the wood leaving very 
small openings to the outside. Once inside they develop rapidly, 
enlarging and lengthening their tunnels as they grow. During this 
period the shell, which is no longer needed for protection, is used 
as a boring tool. As they develop, shipworms secrete a calcareous 
material with which they line their tunnels. The openings made 
by the young larvae are never enlarged. As a result, the only 
external signs of infestation of a piece of heavily damaged wood 
are tiny holes in its surface. 
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