COCKROACHES 



135 



with two characteristic dark brown lines on the thorax 

 and is about five-eighths of an inch long. 



Perhaps next to the croton-bug the American cockroach, 

 Periplaneta americana, is the most common and most 

 widely distributed in this country (Fig. 38). It is the 

 largest one of the four and the wings are long and well 

 developed. It is, perhaps, more common in the middle 

 and western United States than anywhere else and 

 formerly was the most troublesome species in these sec- 

 tions. In Texas it is abundant and 

 in some localities, at least, is a great 

 pest, especially in the southern parts 

 of the state. This roach is sup- 

 posed to be of semitropical or 

 tropical origin, and very likely, the 

 conditions in southern Texas are 

 especially favorable to its existence. 



This species is a well-known in- 

 habitant of feed mills and becomes 

 a nuisance and a costly occupant, 

 because of the food-stuffs it not 

 only eats but renders unfit for 

 market. The basement of a corn mill in Cuero, Texas, 

 was investigated in search of some specimens of the 

 American roach. The basement of the mill was found 

 to be literally alive with them and an abundance of 

 specimens was obtained in a few minutes. They were 

 a nuisance in the mill, but very difficult to get rid of. 



Kellogg, in "American Insects," says that a friend of his 

 in Mazatlan, Mexico, sent him "quarts of large native 

 American roaches which he readily scooped up from his 

 bedroom floor." He further says that ships come into 



Fig. 38. — American 

 cockroach. (X 1.) 



