state. The wings of the male also are shortened, not reaching to the 

 extremity of the body. 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 gregarious 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 resentment being shown. This species was a 

 common and troublesome pest in the British Colonies early in the 



■--^■-z-"'^>^ 



Fig. 3.— The Australian roach (Pcriplanela auslralasi.v): a, Male with spread 

 wings; 6, female; c, pupa. All life-size. (Original.) 



eighteenth century, although unknown at the same time in the 

 French Canadian possessions.' 



It then seemed to be commonly known as the mill beetle. The 

 early Dutch called them Kakerlacli, and in the wSwede settlements they 

 were known as Brodsetare (bread eaters) . It is now very common in 

 houses in the East, but is quite generally distributed, and is the com- 

 mon species even so far removed from the Atlantic seaboard as New 

 Mexico. The characteristics of this insect are shown in the accom- 

 panying illustration (fig. 4) . 



The German cockroach (Blattella germanica) is particularly abun- 

 dant in Germany and neighboring European countries, but, like most 



See Kalm 'a Travels, Vol. I, p. 321; II, p. 256. 



[Cir. 51] 



