344 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I4I 



cockroaches may be protected by their swiftness, others by their re- 

 semblance to vegetation (Williams, 1928). The habit of squeezing 

 into narrow cracks may afford cockroaches some protection. 



Burrowing forms such as Pycnoscelus may spend much time in 

 underground cells (Roeser, 1940). Polyphagids rapidly burrow into 

 sand (Fausek, 1906), where they may be protected from predators. 

 Tepper (1893) discovered that a very large Australian cockroach, 

 Geoscapheus rohustus, had its fore legs, especially the tibiae, adapted 

 for digging. He observed this species in captivity and in 1894 re- 

 ported that it appeared to sink into the soil without raising any con- 

 siderable amount above the surface and that it did not form an unob- 

 structed tunnel. Another large Australian cockroach, Macropanesthia 

 rhinocerus, burrows about two feet below the surface of sandy soil ; 

 it also makes nests among pine roots and the nymphs rarely appear 

 above ground (Henson in Day, 1950). Tepper (1893) observed that 

 Australian cockroaches of the genera Epilampra and Oniscosoma 

 buried themselves in loose soil and dust. Baker (in Rehn, 1930) ob- 

 served that Styphon hakeri is found in humus and rubble in the Dutch 

 West Indies where "It is sluggish in the open, but wedges into the 

 humus quite quickly." 



Therca nuptialis, found in India, conceals itself at the roots of fig 

 trees, etc. The small hairs on its elytra retain sufficient dust to conceal 

 it, or at any rate to render it inconspicuous, when not on the wing 

 (Annandale, in Chopard, 1924c). Rehn and Hebard (1914) observed 

 that the nymphs of Blaherus craniifer ^^ at Key West, Fla., "were 

 usually found half buried in loose damp earth under boards, where 

 they remained motionless, looking much like lumps of earth (with 

 which they were usually much dusted) until disturbed." Hebard 

 (1917) reported of Monastria higuttata from Brazil that "All of the 

 juveniles are heavily coated with foreign particles" which adhere 

 "to a multitude of closely placed, minute and usually curved spines, 

 which cover the dorsal surface and marginal portions of the ventral 

 surface." 



It is apparent from the numbers of predators reported herein that 

 many animals are not deterred by the odorous secretions of cock- 

 roaches ; these secretions, because they may seem repugnant to man, 

 are often claimed to be repellent to predators. However, Cott (1940) 

 points out that "There are many instances in which protective devices 

 and associated warning colours are known to be ineffectual against 



12 The species was recorded by these authors as Blabcnis atropos. (Hebard, 

 1917 p. 204, footnote 327.) 



