FALSE WIRE WORMS. 
79 
‘ rubbish heap,’ where a great quantity of green refuse gets thrown 
together with leaves and sweepings, &c., from the garden. 
“I have always noticed this kind of soil (after all has become 
decomposed) to be full of insects, of which the greater -part are the Julus 
worms , and these attack Potatoes, Carrots, and Onions ; and this year 
I find great numbers of them on late Celery. Such soil ought not to 
be used for at least two years, during which time it should be well 
turned over, and plenty of lime mixed with it.”—A. W. 
“ The Snake Millepedes are general feeders, consuming both 
decaying and living animal and vegetable substances. They prey 
upon slugs, small snails, insects and their larvas and pupae, earth¬ 
worms, &c. They also feed on living vegetables, and various 
plants are often injured by their attacking their roots. In particular 
they feed upon our root-crops, Potatoes, Carrots, &c.”—‘ Aptera,’ A. 
Murray, p. 16. 
These Millepedes continue in their somewhat caterpillar-like shape 
throughout their lives. At first they have only three pairs of legs ; 
this number is increased afterwards with the moults of the skin, but 
they do not go through changes of form, and never get wings; 
consequently, in many cases it appears beyond doubt that they were 
brought on the ground in the manure. They lay eggs about Christmas, 
so that thorough disturbance of the soil, such as takes place in winter 
digging in gardens, would be good treatment, and they are said 
especially to thrive in undisturbed dampish ground. 
The London Snake Millepede, Julus Londinensis, Leach (fig. 1), is 
about an inch long, blackish or of a dark lead-colour, with about 
eighty pairs of whitish legs, looking to the naked eye like a fringe on 
each side of the creature. This is recorded as being found infesting 
roots of Wheat in Surrey, but we have not notes in any of these cases 
of whether the Millepedes were noticed doing harm to the preceding 
crop. The Snake Millepedes do not arrive at full growth or propagate 
till they are two years of age, so that, unless brought on the land in 
manure, it seems likely that the attacking Millepedes or their parents 
would have been noticeably at work in the preceding crop ; and, in 
further observations, any notes of what might be seen in manure 
when applied, or other notes, would be very serviceable, for the treat¬ 
ment of this attack has been very little studied. 
The common pink-spotted Julus may be collected in great numbers 
by large pieces of cut Mangolds ; I saw it thus in May swarming on 
pieces of root at Sliarsted Court, Kent. The only application which 
has as yet been reported as entirely successful as a remedy is salt, 
which was noted in 1883 by Mr. J. Addison, Mapledurwell, as being 
an easy way of killing them ; and he also found they were attracted 
to cotton-cake. 
