Poison of the Gila monster 33 HARMLESS CREATURES MISTAKENLY BELIEVED POISONOUS 34 BANDED GECKO 35 SOLPUGID 36 JERUSALEM CRICKET 36 VINEGAROON 37 REFERENCES CITED 39 INDEX 40 ILLUSTRATIONS Deserts of the Southwest _Frontispiece_ Map of western United States viii Centipede 2 Enlarged view of under side of centipede’s head 2 Deadly and non-deadly scorpions 4 Giant desert hairy scorpion in alert position 5 Underside of black widow spider 8 Brown recluse spider 11 Tarantula 13 Conenose bugs 15 Common ant 16 Wasp 17 Velvet ant 18 Bumblebee 19 Honeybees on the honeycomb 20 Poison mechanism of worker bee 21 Puss caterpillar 23 Arizona coral snake 24 Western diamondback rattlesnake 25 Sidewinder or “horned” rattlesnake 27 Poison mechanism of the rattlesnake 28 Western black-headed snake 29 Sonora lyre snake 30 Gila monster 31 Underside of the Gila monster 32 Poison mechanism of the Gila monster 33 Two adult banded geckos 35 Solpugid or sun spider 36 Jerusalem cricket (sand cricket or chaco) 37 Vinegaroon 38 EDITORIAL NOTE ABOUT INSECTICIDES