THE LIVING WORLD. 
229 
habits. Their poison is secreted at the base of the first pair of legs. The 
species called scolopendra is the one about which so many stories have been 
told, and which render life a constant warfare to the visitor to the parts of the 
country which they infest. With the increasing luxuriance of plant life in 
the more southern parts of the country, animal life, and especially insect life, 
grows infinite in variety and numerousness. .Hence the centipede increases in 
number and virulence as one travels toward the equator. 
The Electric Myriapod (Geophilus electricus ) is a phosphorescent centi¬ 
pede found in Europe. 
The Centipedes have a pair of legs for each segment of the body; their 
antennae are many-jointed, and at the base of the first pair of legs are poison- 
sacs. An Indian species is a foot in length. The bite of the insect is poison¬ 
ous, although not usually fatal to mankind. The centipedes are a great pest 
in warm climates, as they take possession of one’s shoes, bed-covering and 
other unlooked-for hiding-places, and are prepared with an ungrateful surprise 
for the legitimate occupant. Naturally, their ferociousness and dangerousness 
SHELL MITE. 
bas been exaggerated by the tales of the romancers of the nursery and of 
travel; still, without being dangerous to human life, they are apt to cause very 
severe suffering. 
The insect popularly known as the Earwig (although its real name is the 
Earwing , taken front a resemblance in shape to the human ear), is, contrary 
to popular belief, not at all dangerous to the sense of hearing. Its wings are 
large but exceedingly delicate, and during the day are so carefully packed 
away as to conceal their very existence. The earwing , like some other insects, 
is a very devoted mother. The caddis-fly, having no armor for its protection, 
conceals itself from its enemy, the fisher, by surrounding itself with a tube, 
which it makes out of earth and sticks. The saw-fly has on the under side 
of the abdomen a pair of saws, which it uses with great skill and effectiveness. 
It has a short, thick body; long, flat, cutting mandibles, and a double saw 
attached to the ovipositor of the female; the wings are orange. After deposit¬ 
ing its egg, it seals the wood so that its larvae shall not undergo the fate of 
the Prisoner of Chillon. The giant ichneumon-fly replaces the saws by a 
gimlet, and the pine trees suffer from its work as a carpenter. The common 
oak-o-alls (as well as the Dead Sea apples), are the developing eggs of the 
gall-fly, deposited in some part of the tree. The cochineal (coccus cactus ) is a native 
