520 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 17 
THE GARDEN CENTIPEDE, SCUTIGERELLA IMMACULATA 
(NEWPORT), A PEST OF ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 
IN THE WEST 
By F. H. Wymore, 
Division of Entomology and Parasitology , University of California 
Abstract 
The garden centipede, Scutigerella immaculata (Newport), is found widely distrib¬ 
uted throughout the world and has been studied by zoologists for many years in 
relation to the supposedly ancestral characters of insects, chilopods and diplopods. 
In recent years it has been considered by economic entomologists of California, 
Oregon and Utah as among the most important and destructive pests in many truck 
crop sections of these States. In California it is particularly destructive to asparagus 
shoots and seedlings of beans, peas, melons, etc., the injury being due to the pest’s 
eating numerous small holes in the host. All stages in the life history of the little 
animals have been found in the intensively cultivated asparagus fields. 
Paradichlorobenzene and calcium cyanide as soil fumigants have given encourag¬ 
ing results in controlling the symphylid and other soil pests and more extensive 
experiments with these chemicals are in progress. In the asparagus fields of the 
Delta region of the Sacramento River, flooding has proven quite practical as a control 
in several cases. Best results from flooding have been obtained where the fields 
were kept thoroughly and continuously covered to a depth of a foot or more for 
from two to three weeks. 
The Symphyla, an order of Myriapoda to which the garden centipede, 
Scutigerella immaculata (Newport), belongs, are of unusual scientific 
interest. Because of their supposed primitive characteristics the animals 
have held the attention of many Zoologists since 1763, the year in which 
Scopoli described the first species of this order, viz. Scutigerella nivea, 
which he referred to the genus Scolopendra. In all the papers reviewed 
by the writer or referred to by other writers, published between 1763 
and 1905, it was not even suggested by the authors that those very 
small symphylids might some day become an economic pest. The main 
reasons were, perhaps, that it was commonly supposed that the little 
animals were to be found only in very secluded regions and that their 
food consisted of microscopic animals. 
According to Grassi (1886), they prefer rocky soil in shaded regions for 
their habitations and where there are no stones the animals are not to be 
found. Williams (1904) reported that they are to be found isolated 
beneath flat stones in the drier portions of a stream bed and in re¬ 
stricted areas along the body of the stream. 
Williams (1907) makes the following statement concerning the habits 
of Scutigerella immaculata: “The chief factors determining their distri¬ 
bution seem to be an atmosphere of great humidity, a moderate tern- 
