CHAPTER III. The World of Myriapods and a Single Land Crustacean

THE WORLD OF MYRIAPODS AND A SINGLE LAND CRUSTACEAN

THE WORLD OF MYRIAPODS AND A LAND CRUSTACEAN

Every one who has turned over a rotten log has seen these thousand-legged worms, and yet I wonder if many of us have known that these weird wandering things resemble, and are the direct living descendants of some of the first animals which crept up out of the sea to live upon the land.

Long ages before the warm-blooded, lung-breathing beasts came into existence, they worked their way up out of their water life among the corals, sponges, worms, shellfish, and fishes, onto the dry land.

This was in the great transition time when all sorts of amphibian monsters came into existence, monsters which have long since passed away. These myriapods deserve respect if for no other reason than because their forefathers crept across the fresh footprints and mud wallows of the prehistoric monsters.

How comes it that these forms of life have changed so little in a million years?

A MILLIPEDE, ONE OF THE VEGETARIAN MYRIAPODS

Slow moving ringed creature with four legs to each ring or segment of its body! Watch its legs move in ripples as it finds its way over the ground! Unlike its distant relative, the centipede, which has but two legs to each body ring and darts about with most surprising rapidity, this millipede lives mainly on plant food and seldom eats, as does its savage relative, the bodies of small animals which make their home beneath old rotten logs.

A CENTIPEDE, ONE OF THE CARNIVEROUS MYRIAPODS

(Scolopendra sp.)

Perhaps no photograph in the collection serves better to illustrate the vastness of the back yard jungle than this one, for myriapods are the only representatives of a gigantic branch of the animal kingdom, the individuals of which are no more insects than they are lobsters. They live their lives altogether on or in the ground, they do not mind the cold as insects do. Some of them have poison fangs and are reputed to inflict fatal wounds. Their matrimonial habits are strange beyond belief.

They compose a vast neglected assemblage of creatures which some of their admirers believe have a value which we do not yet understand nor appreciate; just as we did not appreciate the role of the mosquito or the earth worm until the researches of modern science taught us of their importance.

A great untouched field for exploration lies here among the Myriapods.

TWO PILL BUGS

(Armadillidium vulgare, Fab.)

Down from the time of the prehistoric monsters comes the armadillidium, the last survivor of the great land crustaceans. As the serpents and the lizards are all that remain to remind us of the monsters which swarmed and fought in the tertiary swamps and oceans, so this strange creature, no larger than a pea, which rolls itself into a ball when you startle it as you turn over a stone in the meadow, is the survivor of the land crustacea which at one time, in countless forms, abounded everywhere in the then young world.

It is not an insect, but a last survivor, related to the crabs more closely than to any other branch of the animal kingdom.

INDEX

Ant Lion, Winged, 207.

Ants--Black, 247. Common Red, 245. Gathering Nectar, 249.

Aphis Lion, 205.

Bee-flies 157, 159.

Bee, Solitary Leaf-cutting, 241. Stinger of the Leaf-cutting, 243. See Bumble-bee.

Beetle, 111. Blister, 127. Chafer. Spotted Vine, 125. Cucumber, Twelve-spotted, 135. Hippopotamus among the Insects, 129. June, 113. "June Bug," 117. June, Larva of, 105. Longicorn, 151. May, 117. Predaceous Ground, 121. Sawyer, 137. Scarab, An American, 133. Twig-pruner, 119. Weevil, Clover Leaf, 123.

Bugs, The Order of, 87. Always Walking Around, 105. Ambush, 103. Assassin, 97. Assassination, 99. Cicada, 101. Lantern Fly. 109. Monster, Queer, Unworldly, 93. Pill, 261. Squash, 89. Strange Shaped, 91. Tarnished Plant, 107. Thread Legged, 95.

Bumble-bee, at Work, 235. Male, the Poor, 239. Pollen Plates, 233. Pollen, Telltale Milkweed, 237. Worker, 231.

Butterfly,--Baby of the Skipper, 177. Forepart of a Brown, 173. Swallow-tail of the Spice-bush, Larva of, 171. Mummy Case, 179. Yellow, 175.

Caterpillar--Devoured by a Fungus, 189. Unknown, 187.

Centipede, 259.

Cicada, 101.

Cockroach, 83.

Cowkiller, 229.

Crickets--Camel or Stone, 79. Ground, 77. On the Hearth, 75. Mole, 81. Stone or Camel, 79.

Crustacean, 261.

Daddy-long-legs, 49.

Dragon-fly, 193. Case, an Abandoned, 201. And Its Victim, 195. Nymph Masked, 197. Nymph Unmasked, 199.

Fig Insect, see Wasp.

Fly, Bee, 157, 159. Crane, 141. Damsel, 203. Horsefly, 165. Horsefly, Green Headed, 167. Ichneumon, 251. Lace-winged, 205. Not a House Fly, 168. Robber, 143, 145, 147, 149, 151. Scorpion, 209. Syrphid, Large, 161.

Grasshopper--Baby, 57. Ear Under its Wing, 63. Good to Eat, 61. Hearing Organ, 65. King, 55. Skeleton, 59.

Harvestman, 49.

Hornet--Bald-faced, 215. Queen, 217. Yellow Jacket, 219.

Insects, Feathered, 169.

Insects, Nerve Winged, 191.

Insects, Stinging, 213.

Insects, Straight-winged, 53.

Insects, Two-winged, 139.

Katydid, 69. Narrow-winged, 71. Young, 73.

Locust, Short-winged Green, 67.

Mantis, Praying, 85.

Mosquito, Anopheles, 155. Culex, 153.

Millipede, 257.

Moth, 181. Not Good to Eat, 183. Spectacle, Hairy, 185.

Myriapods, 255.

Spider World, 16.

Spider--Bird-dropping, 31. Crab, 45. Daddy-long-legs or Harvestman, 49. From a Fly's Point of View, 37. Grass, The Male, 43. Harvestman, or Daddy-long-legs, 49. Jumping, 19, 21, 23. Male, a Mature, 47. Mother Spider and Nest, 39. Orb-weaver with Eggs, 35. Orb-weaving, 33. Spiny-bellied, 29. Vagabond, 41. Wolf-spider, 25. Wolf-spider, Skeleton of, 27.

Termite, Soldier, 211.

Wasp--Cow Killer, 229. Fig Insect, 227. Food of a Mud Dauber's Baby, 225. Mud Dauber, 223. Social, 221. Velvet Ant or Cow Killer, 229. Wingless, 229.

Yellow Jacket, 219.

INDEX TO LATIN NAMES

Acrosoma gracile, Walck., 29.

Agelina nævia, Walck., 43.

Agrion maculatum, Beauvois, 203.

Agrynnis cybele, Fab., 173.

Allorhina nitida, Linn., 113, 115.

Anasa tristis, De G., 89.

Anopheles punctipennis, Say, 155.

Apantesis nais attacked by Empusa, sp., Dru., 189.

Archytas aterrima, Des., 163.

Armadillidium vulgare, Fab., 261.

Blastophaga grossorum, Grav., 227.

Blatella germanica, Linn., 83.

Bombus americanorum, Fab., 233, 239. sp., 237. vagans, Sm., 231.

Brochymena arborea, Say, 105.

Ceuthophilus uhleri, Scudd., 79.

Chlænius æstivus, Say, 121.

Chrysopa sp., 205.

Cicada sayi, Grossb., 101.

Coleoptera, 111.

Colias philodice, Gdt., 175.

Copris carolina, Linn., 133.

Corynocoris distinctus, Dallas, 93.

Crypturopsis sp., 251.

Culex sp., 153.

Dasyllis grossa, Fab., 145, 147.

Deromyia, 151.

Diabrotica duodecim punctata, Oliv., 135.

Dicromorpha viridis, Scudd., 67.

Diptera, 139.

Dissosteira carolina, Linn., 63, 65.

Dolomedes tenebrosus, Hentz, 37.

Elaphidion atomaricum, Dru., 119.

Emesa longipes, De G., 95.

Epeira domiciliorum, Hentz, 35. trivittata, Keys., 33. verrucosa, Hentz, 31.

Epicanta marginata, Fab., 127.

Erax æstuans, Linn., 143.

Euchætes egle, Dru., 185.

Eudamus tityrus, Fab., 177.

Euschistus tristigmus, Say, 91.

Formica sp., 245.

Gryllotalpa borealis, Burm., 81.

Gryllus pennsylvanicus, Burm., 75.

Helicoptera variegata, Van D., 109.

Hemiptera, 87.

Hippiscus sp., 55.

Hymenoptera, 213.

Lachnosterna quercus, Knoch, 117.

Leiobunum grande, Weed, 49.

Lepidoptera, 169.

Libellulid, 197, 199, 201.

Limnobia sp., 141.

Lycosa carolinensis, Walck, 25. punctulata, Hentz, 27.

Lygus pratensis, Linn., 107.

Macromia sp., 195.

Mallophora sp., 149.

Megachile brevis, Say, 241, 243.

Melesia virginiensis, Dru., 161.

Monohammus titilator, Fab., 137.

Mutilla simillima, Sm., 229.

Myriapods, 255.

Myrmeleon immaculatus, De G., 207.

Neuroptera, 191.

Orthoptera, 53.

Orthosoma brunneum, Forst., 131.

Panorpa confusa, Westw., 209.

Papilio troilus, Linn., 171.

Paratenodera sinensis, Sauss., 85.

Pardosa milvina, Hentz, 41.

Pelidnota punctata, Linn., 125.

Phidippus audax, Hentz, 19. togatus, Koch, 23.

Phymata pennsylvanica, Handl., 103.

Phytonomus punctatus, Fab., 123.

Polistes metrica, Say, 221.

Prionus, sp., 129.

Pselliopus cinctus, Fab., 97, 99.

Sceliphron cementarium, Klug, 223.

Scolopendra sp., 259.

Scudderia sp., 69, 71, 73.

Sparnopolius fulvus, Wied., 157.

Spogostylum simson, Fab., 159.

Tabanus atratus, Forst., 165. punctifer, O. S., 167.

Termes flavipes, Koll., 211.

Vespula maculata, Linn., 215, 217.

Vespa carolina, Dru., 219.

Xysticus gulosus, Keys., 45.