the body, so that the mouth parts are directed backward and the eyes 

 directed downward, conforming with their grovehng habits. The 

 antenme are very long and slender, often having upward of 100 joints. 

 The males usually have two pairs of wings, the outer ones somewhat 

 coriaceous and the inner ones more membranous and once folded 

 longitudinally. In some species, as, for instance, the black beetle, the 

 females are nearly wingless. The legs are long and powerful and 

 armed with numerous strong bristles or spines. The mouth parts are 

 well developed and have strong biting jaws, enabling these insects to 

 eat all sorts of substances. 



HABITS. 



In houses roaches are particularly abundant in pantries and kitchens^ 

 especially in the neighborhood of fireplaces, on account of the heat. 

 For the same reason they are often abundant in the oven rooms of 

 bakeries or wherever the temperature is maintained above the normal. 

 They conceal themselves during the day behind baseboards, furniture, 

 or wherever security and partial protection from the light are afforded. 

 Their very flat, thin bodies enable them to squeeze themselves into 

 small cracks or spaces w4iere their presence would not be suspected and 

 where they are out of the reach of enemies. Unless routed out by the 

 moving of furniture or disturbed in their hiding places, they are rarely 

 seen, and if so discovered, make off with w^onderful celerity, with a 

 scurrying, nervous gait, and usually are able to elude all efforts at 

 their capture ordestruction. It may often happen that their presence, 

 at least in the abundance in which they occur, is hardly realized by the 

 housekeeper unless they are surprised in their midnight feasts. Com- 

 ing into a kitchen or pantry suddenly, a sound of the rustling of 

 numerous objects w'ill come to the ear, and if a light be introduced, 

 often the floor or shelves will be seen covered with scurrying roaches 

 hastening to places of concealment. In districts where the large 

 American roach occurs they sometimes swarm in this way at night in 

 such numbers that upon entering a small room in which they are con- 

 gregated one will be repeatedly struck and scratched on the face and 

 hands by the insects in their frantic flight to gain concealment. 



The black roach is less active and w-ary than the others, and particu- 

 larly the German roach, which is especially agile and shy. 



The domestic roaches are practically omnivorous, feeding on almost 

 any dead animal matter, cereal products, and food materials of all 

 sorts. They are also said to eat their own cast skins and egg cases, and 

 it is supposed that they will attack other species of roaches, or are, per- 

 haps, occasionally cannibalistic. They will also eat or gnaw woolens, 

 leather (as of shoes or furniture), and frequently are the cause of exten- 

 sive damage to the cloth and leather bindings of books in libraries 

 and publishing houses. The sizing or paste used on the cloth covers 



[Cir. 51] 



