346 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I4I 



seized and crushed E. floridana before releasing its hold and dropping 

 the insect 5 to lO minutes later. The blue jay Cyanocitta cristata 

 readily attacked adults of E. floridana and killed them but did not 

 eat the insects until after the odor had dissipated; however, the bird 

 carried nymphs oi E. floridana to its perch and ate them. Nymphs 

 of this species do not secrete 2-hexenal (Roth et al., 1956). Recently, 

 2-hexenal has been tested for its antibacterial activity and has been 

 found to be active against seven species of pathogenic bacteria (Val- 

 curone and Baggini, 1957). Eurycotis decipiens from Trinidad also 

 ejects a fluid which may produce toxic symptoms such as vertigo and 

 nausea (Bunting in Roth and Willis, 1957a). 



Large reservoirs of glands similar in appearance and position to 

 those of Eurycotis floridana are present in the adults of both sexes of 

 Neostylopyga rhombi folia and Platysosteria novae seelandiae. Walker 

 (1904) and Longstaff {in Shelford, 191 2) noted that the latter species 

 had a strong odor. Roth (unpublished data, 1957) found that the secre- 

 tion of P. novae seelandiae when ejected is grayish or milky in color. In 

 the reservoirs of the ventral gland of this insect the secretion is a milky 

 liquid containing floating greenish globules. Both infrared and mass 

 spectrographic analyses show that the secretion is a mixture containing 

 2-hexenal, the aldehyde that is found in E. floridana. Eisner (personal 

 communication, 1958) observed that the lizard Anolis carolinensis im- 

 mediately released Neostylopyga rhombi folia without injury, but that 

 Bufo marinus, Anolis equistris, and Cyanocitta cristata ate the insect 

 despite the secretion ; several unidentified spiders and the ant Pogo- 

 nomyrmex badius were not repelled by the secretion of N. rhonibi- 

 folia. 



Dorsal and ventral glands have been found in both sexes of Blatta 

 orientalis and Periplaneta americana (Minchin, 1888, 1890; Kul'vets, 

 1898; Oettinger, 1906; Harrison, 1906; Liang, 1956). The ventral 

 glands are found in the same general region as those of Eurycotis. 

 We have also found similar ventrally located glands in both Peri- 

 planeta australasiae, and P. brunnea. The reservoirs which store the 

 secretion of the ventral glands are smaller in Blatta and Periplaneta 

 spp. than those found in Eurycotis, Neostylopyga, or Platyzosteria. 



In Blatta orientalis the dorsal glands can be everted by pressure on 

 the abdomen; the secretion in these glands, according to Haase 

 (1889), has the typical oriental cockroach odor. Although the dorsal 

 glands of the oriental cockroach are usually given a defensive role 

 (Haase, 1889, 1889a; Kul'vets, 1898; Oettinger, 1906; Koncek, 

 1924), the functions of secretions of these nonepigamic dorsal glands 

 and the ventral glands are still open to question. It is possible that 



