THE MYRIAPOD A, 
521 
an out-house. The members of the genus Cermatia, or Scutigera as it is sometimes called, are 
spread over the hotter parts of the world, and attain their greatest dimensions under the 
tropics. Specimens of these strange beings are found in the South of Europe, Madeira, many 
parts of Africa and Asia, Florida, New Holland, and Australia. The eyes of the Cermatia are 
unlike those of the generality of Myriapoda, the ocelli being crowded together, so that the 
facets assume a hexagonal form like those of the insects and some of the Crustacea. 
All the Cermatise are exceedingly active, running about on their long legs with an action 
that reminds the observer of the common harvest-spider. Indeed, the whole creature has very 
much the look of being composed of a number of harvest-spider’s legs attached to the body of 
a centipede. The Cermatia is carnivorous in its habits, feeding upon insects and having a 
great predilection for spiders. A full-grown Cermatia will attack even one of the large and 
formidable spiders of the tropics, and, safe in its shelly mail, succeed in killing and devouring 
its foe. In the struggle it will probably lose a few legs ; but the creature is in no wise fas- 
tidious about its proper complement of limbs, and loses six or seven legs with perfect indiffer- 
ence, behaving in this respect like the harvest-spider, the crane-fly, and other “ lang-leggit ” 
creatures, whose affection for their limbs seems to be in inverse ratio to their length. 
The color of the noble Cermatia is pale brown, with a yellowish line running down its 
centre. The limbs are strongly marked with yellowish-brown, green, and rings of blue. It 
seldom exceeds two inches in length. This species is found in the East Indies and in the 
Mauritius. 
A Myriapod belonging to another family, termed the Lithobiidae, is called Lithobius 
rubriceps. The members of this family may be known by the fifteen shields upon the back 
and their sharp, elongated angles. They are found in the open air, hiding under stones — a 
habit to which is due the title of the family and genus. The name Lithobius is composed of 
two Greek words, the former signifying a stone, and the latter to live. 
In this species the head is large and squared, and of a deep red color. There are fourteen 
eyes on each side, and they are small and very black. The long antennae are yellow, and the 
mandibles are of the same color, deepening into black at the points. The general color of the 
body is olive-brown, the green tinge being more conspicuous in some individuals than in 
others, and the legs are yellow. This is a small species, rather less than an inch and a half in 
length. This species inhabits the south of Spain. 
More than twenty species of Lithobius are known, scattered over the greater part of the 
Vol. III. — 66. 
