300 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



escaped. His quickness and agility astonished me. At last I triumphed, bv 

 adopting the advice of Captain Maclear, and shooting him with a pellet of paper 

 from m}^ air-gun, a mode of attack for which he was evidently unprepared." 



Female cockroaches may often be seen carrying a dark brown, horny purse 

 attached to the hinder body. The upper side is ridged and slightly toothed. This 

 is her egg-capsule, and it contains sixteen eggs arranged in two rows of eight. This 



will be deposited in some safe crevice. When the eggs 

 hatch, the tiny white cockroaches by the emission of 

 saliva soften the ridged roof of their cradle, and the two 

 sides separate to allow of their escape. They are very 

 active little creatures, running with great ease, and on 

 coming into daylight soon darken to brown. 



In some houses that are cockroach-ridden the 

 place of the common cockroach is taken by a much 

 smaller species known in the United States as the croton- 

 bug. Linnaeus called it the German cockroach,^ from 

 a belief that Germany was its natural home. It really 

 came from Asia and North-eastern Europe through 

 Russia. It is said to have come to England in the 

 company of soldiers returning from the Crimean War. 

 It is about half the size of the common cockroach, and 

 both sexes are winged. As it reaches maturity in the 

 course of a few months (the common species takes 

 several years), it soon forms enormous swarms. It 

 is of a lighter colour than its larger relation, and the 

 wing-covers extend beyond the end of the body. A 

 much larger species, the kakerlac,'^ came to us from 

 Tropical America, and is established in houses chiefly 

 near the docks, as it is the species most frequent on 

 board ship. It may also be seen in some plenty in 

 certain of the warmer houses in the Zoological Society's 

 Gardens ; but otherwise it does not appear to spread 

 / much in this country. Occasionally a specimen or two 



of the still larger drummer,"^ of the West Indies, is 

 ^''°Croton-Bug o^r GERMAif"^' caught hcrc, having come on ship-board ; but it does 

 Cockroach. not appear ever to have obtained a proper footing. 



Really an Asiatic species which is believed r\j^-i • i , tt- • l^ i , c n 



to have been introduced to England with Other SpCClCS tum Up at KCW, With plants trom all 



troops returning from the Crimean War. r , i 11 1 r i • 1 



It may be studied easily in some London quartCrS Ot thC WOrlcl ; ailCi OI thCSC WC glVC SeVCral 



restaurants. It is photographed from . 



the under side to show how (in cockroaches pOrtraitS. 



generally) the head is kept infle.xed under r^ 1 ^ , • 1 i 11 1 1 • 



the fore-body. Our thrcc nativc cockroaches are small, and being 



hardy disdain the soft indoor life that appeals to the aliens. They keep to the 

 coast and woods not far inland, where they may be found among dead leaves and 

 debris. One of these, the Lapland cockroach,^ though only found in thickets in 

 this country and over the greater part of the Continent, shares the homes of the 

 Lapps, and is a pest because it attacks their stores of dried fish. The word cockroach 



* Phyllodromia germanica. - Periplaneta americana. * Blabera gigantea. ■• Ectobia lapponica. 



