1 78 NORTH AMERICAN BLATTIDAE 



margins of the cephalic femora and showing the greatest length 

 on the caudal margins of the median and caudal femora. Ex- 

 ternal tibial spines tri-seriately arranged. Tarsi very elongate; 

 first four joints each supplied with a small distal pulvillus. Arolia 

 small, truncate distad. 



Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus) (Plate VII, figures 3 to 11.) 



1758. [Blatta] americana Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., Ed. X, p. 424. [America.] 



1773. Blatta kakkerlac DeGeer, Mem. I'Hist. Ins., iii, p. 535, pi. 44, figs, i, 2 (cf), 



3 (9). [Meridional South America, [Surinam].] 

 1901. Periplaneta americana colorata Rehn, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc, x.\vii, p. 220. 



[ 9 (nee cT), Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.] 



DeGeer admittedly gave the name kakkerlac to the species de- 

 scribed by Linnaeus as americana. Shelford has shown-^^ that the 

 types of americana and other species collected by Rolander and 

 described by Linnaeus, probably belonged to DeGeer, and were 

 subsequently again described by that author. Thus we may 

 safely assume that, though Linnaeus' description of americana is 

 extremely unsatisfactory, the characters described and shown in 

 the figures of the synonymous kakkerlac by DeGeer, fix the species' 

 identity beyond doubt. 



The specimen described as americana colorata by Rehn, is before 

 us. It is clearly a mere color variant, with marginal caudal band 

 of pronotum as normal in P. brunnea, and is not worthy of name 

 recognition. 



The established synonyms of the present species are Blatta 

 kakkerlac DeGeer, Blatta aurelianensis Fourcr., Blatta siccijolia 

 and aiirantiaca StoU, Periplaneta stolida Walker and Periplaneta 

 americana variety colorata Rehn. 



This is a large, shining, reddish brown insect, with paler pronotum 

 showing two large, but weakly defined, spots meso-cephalad and a 

 marginal suffusion caudad of the general darker coloration. It 

 is the largest of the North American species of the genus, having 

 the most decidedly caudate organs of flight, agreeing rather closely 

 in coloration with brunnea, but normally with pronotum showing 

 the paired meso-cephalic blotches more decided and the marginal 

 caudal l)and and lateral suffusion less intense. In l^oth species, 



-**^ Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 1907, p. 456, (1908). 



