Vol. XXv] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 121 



On the Blatta aegyptiaca of Drury (Orthoptera: 



Blattidae). 

 By JAMES A. G. REHN and MORGAN HEBARD, Philadelphia, Pa. 



In 1773, Drury, in his classic Illustrations of Exotic In- 

 sects (II, p. 67, pi. XXXVI, fig. 3) figured and described a 

 roach from Jamaica, which he judged to be the same as the 

 Blatta aegyptiaca of Linnaeus. The latter species we know 

 to be a member of the genus Polyphaga, and, while in a most 

 superficial manner it resembles Drury's species, the two are 

 quite different. Beauvois in 1805 (Ins. Rec. Afr. et Amer., 

 p. 228, pi. Orth. lie, fig. 4) figured and described from San 

 Domingo the same species as Drury, calling it Blatta lae- 

 vigata. Beauvois's name has had a somewhajt checkered 

 career, having been considered the correct one for one species 

 of the genus Phoetalia by a number of authors and for a sec- 

 ond member of the same genus by another, while more recently 

 Kirby referred it with a query to the genus Leucophaea. 



In 1839, Serville (Hist. Ins. Orth., p. 86) recognized that 

 Drury's figure was of something quite different from the true 

 Blatta aegyptiaca, and, having received specimens from Brazil 

 which appeared to agree with Drury's illustration, he described 

 the Brazilian material as Blatta druryi and referred Drury's 

 figure to the same species. There is no difficulty in placing the 

 species described by Serville, which is clearly the same as that 

 called Blatta limbata by Thunberg in 1826 and Nyctibora 

 sericea by Burmeister in 1838. The names limbata and seri- 

 cea, however, apply to a species having much longer tegmina 

 and a smaller and more ovate pronotum than Drury's form, 

 these characters being evident in the figures of both Drury and 

 Beauvois. Almost without exception recent authors have quoted 

 the figure of Drury under limbata Thunberg, or rather under 

 the synonymous sericea Burmeister. 



Recently we have had occasion to determine two specimens, 

 representing both sexes, of a species of the genus Nyctibora, 

 both apparently accidental importations into the eastern United 

 States, having been taken in situations where tropical fruits, 



