"J^i SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I4I 



the foundation, under furniture, or behind cartons ; it is conspicuous 

 on the floors of the markets at night (De Long, 1948). In Great 

 Britain the kitchen is preferred by this pest (and by Blattella ger- 

 manica) ; they shelter beneath steam radiators and gas stoves, behind 

 hot-water pipes, underneath furniture and floor coverings, sinks and 

 baths ; basements and underground kitchens are especially likely to be 

 infested (Laing, 1946; British Museum [Nat. Hist.], 1951). Good- 

 liffe (1958) noted that B. orientalis may travel long distances to find 

 food. 



Blattella germanica 



This species is a cosmopolitan domiciliary pest (Hebard, 191 7; 

 Rehn, 1945). It is one of the commonest insects in homes and 

 restaurants (Gould and Deay, 1940). It is found in kitchens, larders, 

 bathrooms, furnace rooms, and storage rooms of bakeries, breweries, 

 hospitals, barracks, as well as dwellings, where, during daylight, it 

 hides behind cupboards, furniture, hanging pictures, panels and 

 skirting boards, in cracks around drains, water pipes, electric wires, 

 and hot-water and steam heating units (Wille, 1920). The German 

 cockroach may be found in cracks around baseboards, pipes, conduits, 

 sinks, and drawers ; behind cabinets ; inside switch boxes and re- 

 frigerators ; on under surfaces of tables, chairs, and shelves ; between 

 stacks of stored goods, and in almost every place that is not readily 

 observed (Kruse, 1948). We have also seen this species packed in 

 electric-clock cases and loud-speaker baffles, in cash registers, and 

 clinging to the undersurface of stainless-steel steam tables. The 

 infestation of markets by this species has been described above. Very 

 narrow cracks provide refuges for the German cockroach. Wille 

 (1920) found first-instar nymphs in cracks 0.5 mm. wide and adult 

 males and females without oothecae in cracks 1.6 mm. wide. 



Shuyler (1956) has observed extensions into relatively new struc- 

 tural habitats by Blattella germanica in the north-central area of the 

 United States. A few German cockroaches are now being encountered 

 in living rooms, bedrooms, clothes closets, bedroom furniture, lobbies, 

 entrance halls, checkrooms, nonfood storerooms, nonfood ware- 

 houses, and coin-vending machine repair shops. In these situations 

 this species is behaving much like the brown-banded cockroach, 

 Supella supellectilium. 



Blattella schubotzi 

 Cameroon. — Five specimens in a house (Princis, 1955). 



