240 INSECTS AT HOME. 



from Van Diemen's Land, and has taken it on board vessels which 

 had just arrived from India. It is also common in Eussia, 

 where it is popularly known as the Prussian, because it is 

 thought to have accompanied the army on their return from 

 Grermany after the Seven Years' War. 



The egg-case of this species is just a quarter of an inch long 

 and one-eighth of an inch wide, and contains thirty eggs, 

 whereas that of the domestic species only contains sixteen, 

 eight on each side. 



The escape of the young when hatched was witnessed by 

 Hummel, the naturalist. He took an egg-case of the Field 

 Cockroach, put it into a bottle, and then introduced a female 

 Cockroach. She at once seized the egg-case with her fore-legs 

 anjl slit it open from end to end. Within the case lay the 

 young larvoe attached to each other in pairs, and enveloped in 

 a delicate membrane, which the fenaale stripped from them so 

 as to set them at liberty. 



Although there has been some doubt respecting the native 

 country of these two insects, there is none respecting certain 

 small Cockroaches which are undoubtedly indigenous to England. 

 They all live in the open air, and may be captured with the 

 sweep net in long grass, heath, rushes, and similar situations. 

 One of the smallest, Blatta ericetorum, is barely one-third of 

 an inch in length, and like the rest of the out-door species is 

 pale yellow in colour. It is found among heath. 



England possesses no example of the Ambulatoria or Raptoria, 

 and we therefore pass at once to the Saltatoria, which may be 

 recognised at once by the length of their hinder legs and the 

 great development of the thighs, which are large and powerful, 

 as is the case with nearly all leaping insects. 



The first family of these insects is the AchetidiB or Crickets, 

 in which the antennae are very long and slender, often longer 

 than the whole body. The wings when folded project far beyond 

 the elytra, and form a pair of long, slender dlaments. In the 

 males there is a large spot at the base of the elytra, shining as 

 if made of talc, and at the end of the abdomen there are two 

 long and hairy bristles, which seem almost to serve as a second 



