COCKROACHES, 9 
The Australian roach! (fig. 3) resembles very closely the last species, 
but differs strikingly in the brighter and more definitely limited 
yellow band on the prothorax and in the yellow dash on the sides of 
the upper wings. In the United States it is the most abundant and 
troublesome species in Florida and some of the other Southern States. 
It is already practically cosmopolitan. 
The oriental cockroach, or ‘ black beetle,’’? is the common European 
and particularly the English species, and is notable for the fact that 
the female is nearly wingless in the adult state. The wings of the 
male also are shortened, not reaching to the extremity of the body. 
Fig. 3.—The Australian roach (Periplancta australasixz): a, Male with spread wings; b, female; c, pupa. 
All life size. (Author’s illustration. ) 
In color it is very dark brown, almost black, shining, and rather 
robust, much stouter than the other species, making its English name 
of ‘‘black beetle”? quite appropriate. This species is notably grega- 
rious in habit, individuals living together in colonies in the most 
amicable way, the small ones being allowed by the larger ones to sit 
on them, run over them, and nestle beneath them without any resent- 
ment bemg shown. This species was a common and troublesome 
pest in the British colonies early in the eighteenth century, although 
unknown at the same time in the French Canadian possessions.* 
1 Periplaneta australasiz Fab. 
2 Blatta orientalis L. 
3Kalm, Peter. Travels into North America, ed. 2, v. 1, p. 321-323; v. 2, p. 256. London, 1772. 
