203
A MILLEPEDE'S TENT.
By HUGH MAIN, F.Z.S.. F.E.S.
(With 2 Plates.)
(Read 28th November, 1931.)
ON August 16th of this year I was clearing away some old
trellis slats and other pieces of wood which were lying
on the ground in a damp place in my garden at Woodford. On
turning over one of the slats I noticed on its underside a small
dome-shaped silken structure which I propose to call a Tent.
Within this was coiled up a millepede.
I was not aware that any millepedes spun silk and thought
the observation might be worth following up.
The accompanying photograph (Plate X, fig. 2), gives a
very good idea of the tent on the black piece of wood on
which it occurred. The photograph taken from the side (Plate
X, fig. 6), enables one to realise its height and other proportions.
The dimensions would be about 10 mm. in diameter and 2 mm.
in height.
A careful search of the rest of the wood yielded two more tents
and several free millepedes. All the wood was replaced on the
ground and was covered with a sack, which maintained a damp
atmosphere beneath it. Occasional further examinations of the
wood yielded more specimens. Altogether 8 tents were obtained,
2 of which were made by captured millepedes, between August 16
and September 17.
The tents and millepedes were almost invariably found
on the undersides of the pieces of wood.
I put each millepede or tent, with the piece of wood on which
it had been found, in a large glass test-tube. The wood was
secured so that it could not shake about and the tube was closed
with a cork pierced by two slanting, protruding nails, which
always maintained it, when laid down, with the broad surfaces
of the slats arranged horizontally and the tents suspended from
the underside as originally found.
The free millepedes roamed about occasionally, but nearly
always chose the underside of the slats on which to come to rest.
To see what was happening below the slats it was only neces-
sary to lift and rotate the tubes slightly or to hold them over a