CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES 
281 
they pass through no metamorphoses, nor do they moult. Instead of this, they begin their 
existence, on quitting the egg, without legs, or with only three pairs of legs, and continue to 
add to the number of their segments and legs until they have attained their full growth. 
They are called Centipedes, or Hundred-legs, and Millipedes, or Thousand-legs ; but in the 
majority of species the number of legs is considerably below 100, though in some few it may 
exceed 300. 
The Centipedes have only one pair of legs attached to each segment of the body, and 
are carnivorous, being armed with a pair of strong mandibles, which are perforated poison- 
fangs. The common species arc all small and harmless, but the bite of the large tropical 
centipedes is more painful and almost as dangerous as that of a snake. Centipedes are long, 
broad, flattened creatures, with about twenty-one pairs of legs, and sometimes measure more 
than a foot in length. A reddish centipede, belonging to an allied family, is common in 
England under stones and in loose mould. It has long antennae and fifteen pairs of legs, 
and feeds chiefly on worms. It is about an inch long. 
Photo by IV P. Dando^ F.Z»S. 
GIANT CENTIPEDE 
JHost centipedes hanje considerably fe^er than a hundred legs 
The Electric Centipedes are much longer and more slender than the others in proportion 
to their length, with rather short antennae, and short and very numerous legs. They are of 
a white or yellow colour, and 2 or 3 inches long. All are nocturnal in their habits, and 
feed on decaying animal or vegetable matter, and are fond of ripe fruit. They emit a pale 
phosphorescence, visible in the dark along the track over which they have crawled. 
Millipedes are not venomous, and feed chiefly on soft vegetable matter. E.xcept the first 
three behind the head, which are provided with only one pair each, every segment bears two 
pairs instead of one pair of legs. The Common Sn.VKE-MILLIPEDE is about an inch and a 
half long, and is brown, with yellow rings and ninety-nine pairs of short white legs. It is 
nearly as destructive as the Wire-worms, which it resembles in its habits, and may often be 
seen clinging to a partly eaten potato. Millipedes are able to roll themselves up into a 
spiral. Many foreign kinds grow to a much larger size, measuring nearly a foot in length. 
They are more frequently sent to Europe from foreign countries than centipedes, probably 
because they are sluggish, harmless creatures which do not bite. 
The members of one family of millipedes, called PiLL-MiLLlPEDES, are so similar to wood-lice 
