148 Zoology of Colorado 



are of foreign origin. Not rarely, in bunches of bananas, we 

 find the delicate green Panchlora cubensis, brought up from the 

 tropics. The word Panchlora means all green. In houses the 

 large dark Blatta orientalis, the too familiar "black beetle" of 

 English housewives, and smaller and less offensive Blattella 

 germanica, are not rarely observed. Yet they have never become 

 firmly established as in Europe, and we still regard them as 

 curiosities. 



Another very ancient group is the Mantidae, those curious 

 predatory insects with broad heads, which hold their front legs 

 as if in the attitude of prayer. The common south European 

 species was actually named Mantis religiosa. Three kinds of 

 Mantidae have been found fossil at Florissant, while we have two 

 small species still living in our foothill country. One of these, 

 Yersinia solitaria, has the eyes sharply conical above; the other, 

 Litaneutria minor, has the eyes blunt above. Both were first 

 made known by Scudder. We also have a rather insignificant 

 looking member of the Phasmidae, or stick-insects, the Para- 

 bacillus color adus of Scudder. It is readily known from other 

 United States species by having the antennae much shorter than 

 the anterior femora. The name Parabacillus is not intended to 

 suggest any connection with the bacilli of disease; both got the 

 name from their resemblance to a little stick or wand, bacillum 

 in Latin. 



While the silent, non-jumping Orthoptera are so uncommon 

 in Colorado as to be readily overlooked, it is quite otherwise 

 with the grasshopper and cricket groups. The latter abound 

 rather in individuals than in species, certain kinds being excessively 

 common. The dark-colored ones are easily separated into the 

 larger, robust forms (Gryllus) and the smaller Nemobius. The 

 "cricket on the hearth" of Dickens is a Gryllus, but belongs to 

 the domestic, house-loving species of Europe, whereas ours prefer 

 the out-of-doors. It is interesting to note the difference between 

 the sexes, the males having the upper wings greatly modified for 

 musical purposes. In the Isle of Wight, England, such male 

 wings were found fossil in rocks of Tertiary age, showing the 

 great antiquity of the cricket's cheerful song or chirp. Even 

 more abundant, but less often seen, are the tree-crickets, pale 

 green or whitish, the genus CEcanthus of entomologists. It 



