ip of palpognath.

e, Antenna.

f, Toxicognath.

g, Last pair of appendages, enlarged and directed backwards.]

_Order 2. Scolopendromorpha._--Chilopods differing principally from
the Geophilomorpha in that the number of leg-bearing somites is
definitely fixed at twenty-three or twenty-one. These are
differentiated into larger and smaller, which alternate with nearly
complete regularity. The anterior portion of each somite is only
partially cut off as a subsegment. The tergal plate of the somite
bearing the toxicognaths is suppressed, probably by fusion with the
tergum of the first leg-bearing somite. The antennae consist of a
number of segments varying from seventeen to about thirty, and usually
differing in the individuals of a species. The second segment
(trochanter) of the legs of the last pair is coalesced with the third
(femur). In only one genus, namely _Plutonium_, which occurs in Italy,
is there a pair of spiracles for each leg-bearing segment, except the
first and last, as in the Geophilomorpha. In most genera there are
only nine pairs of spiracles situated upon the 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th,
12th, 14th, 16th, 18th and 20th leg-bearing segments, as in
_Scolopendra_, _Cormocephalus_, _Cryptops_, &c. In genera with
twenty-three pairs of legs, like _Scolopocryptops_, there is an
additional pair of spiracles on the twenty-second pedigerous segment;
and a few genera such as _Rhysida, Edentistoma_, possess a pair upon
the 7th segment. Eyes, when present, are always four in number on each
side. The newly hatched young has the full complement of appendages.

This order is divided into four families:--_Scolopendridae_
(_Scolopendra_, _Rhysida_), _Cryptopidae_ (_Cryptops_, _Theatops_),
_Scolopocryptopidae_ (_Scolopocryptops_, _Otocryptops_) and
_Newportudae_ (_Newportia_). Apart from the frigid zones it is
cosmopolitan in distribution, though only one genus (_Cryptops_)
extends into north temperate latitudes. In the tropics and warmer
countries of the southern hemisphere the genera and species are
particularly abundant, and individuals reach the greatest dimensions,
some specimens of the tropical American species _Scolopendra gigantea_
exceeding 12 in. in length. They are strictly carnivorous, their diet
consisting of any animal, vertebrate or invertebrate, small enough to
be overcome. They live in damp obscure places, under logs of wood or