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| Millipededes and centipededs. A detailed study |
By:
Snigdha |
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MILLIPEDES
The Diplopoda (double foot) arc called the millipedes. Their body is subcylindrical and consists from 25 to 100segments, according to the species. The name millipede means ‘thousand-legged’, and though it is a gross exaggeration, some common ones do have as many as 110 pairs of legs. The order name Diplopoda refers to the double-legged condition of an apparent body-segment. One wonders how they can travel without stepping on their own toes. In spite of their many number of legs, they move very slowly. These sluggish and timid creatures avoid enemies, hiding usually in dark and damp places——under stones or logs, among decaying leaves or in moss or rotting wood. If one touches or lifts a millipede, it curls up in a fiat spiral like a watch-spring, which leaves the hard upper surface exposed, but protects the legs and soft underside. Most species have stink glands along the sides of the body. These secrete an ill-smelling fluid, sometimes strong enough to kill insects that are placed in a jar with the millipede. The offensive fluid has an odour similar to cyanide and makes the millipedes unpalatable to their enemies. Most millipedes are vegetarian and scavengers, feeding principally on decaying material, but a few attack living roots and do serious damage in greenhouses and gardens. Millipedes do not bite man. The common examples are Spirobohus and Julus.
CENTIPEDES
The name centipede means ‘hundred-legged’. The centipedes belong to the order Chilopoda (margin foot).They lurk during daytime in protected, damp places such as under bark or stones, in rotton logs, and in houses, especially in cellars and bathrooms. They are active and fast-moving creatures, very sensitive to touch and seldom come to rest unless the body is in contact with some solid object on at least two sides. This habit keeps them in covered situations, where they are protected from enemies and from dying. They are predaceous or voracious, carnivorous animals, feeding on insects, spiders, worms, slugs and even Jizard~ and mice. They kill their prey with the poison of the poison claws or maxillipedes, which are the modified legs of the first body-segment. These are curved, hollow organs, perforated at their tips. If one lays a finger on a centipede, it turns round and bites. The smaller centipedes are harmless to man; but some larger tropical species are able to inflict a painful bite and the patient often suffers from fever, dizziness and headache. ‘Most poisonous centipedes of tropical ‘countries belong to the genus Scolopendra, which may reach a maximum length of nearly one foot. The common house-centipede belongs to the genus Scutigera. It lives in damp places such as basements. It bears 15 pairs of very long legs. It is not only harmless to man but also is really beneficial as it feeds on various noxious insects such as cockroaches and bedbugs.
http://www.indipets.com/arthropoda/myriapoda.htm |
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