428 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



One species 1''^ found here in the mountains is common in greenhouses in 

 Europe and America. The mango thrip,*^^ occurring in Hawaii, is a species 

 belonging to the same genus. Other species occur on cultivated plants. 



Gr.vsshoppers, Crickets, Cockro.vches .^nd Earwigs. 



The order Oiilinptcm. as treated in the Fauna Hawaiiensis, is made to 

 include such well-known insects as the grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, ear- 

 wigs, and other forms with conspicuous mouth parts formed for biting, and 

 with the lower lip divided in the middle. The mode of growth in each indi- 

 vidual is by increase in size without any abrupt change in form except that the 

 wings, when present, are only developed in the final condition of growth. In 

 several forms the wings are rudimentary and not suited for flight. 



The Orthoptcra are all insects of comparatively large size, and many of 

 them, on account of their voracious appetites, are very destructive to culti- 

 vated plant life. 



The earwigs >■■*" are elongated, dark-cdloi'dl insects bearing at the pos- 

 terior end of the body a pair of curious i)incer-shaped organs. They are 

 common insects in Hawaii, oeeurring connnonly in gardens and cultivated 

 ground, as well as far up in the mduiitaiiis. They are fond of concealing them- 

 selves in jilaces difficult to enter. The name "earwig" is said to be due to a 

 belief that the creatures are fond of creeiiiiiL;' iiitd the CtU's of persons while 

 asleep. This curious and apparently groundless superstition is current in 

 Hawaii, as well as in almost every other country these creatures inhabit. They 

 are mainly carnivorous in habit and generally regarded as beneficial insects. 



Ten species belonging to four or five genera are reported as occurring in 

 the islands. Most of the species are of undoubted recent introduction, some 

 of them very recent, while one which inhabits the mountain forests of Kauai,i^^ 

 and a rai-er species ^■'''■* from Oahu. may have developed from early natural 

 immigrants. 



The cockroaches,'"''-' with at least sixteen species belonging to thirteen 

 genera, are well known in Hawaii, where certain species are abundant house- 

 hold pests. They are all easily recognized by the common characteristics of 

 the order that are well exhibited by familiar species. They all feed at night 

 and fly from the light with a rapid scurrying gait which is peculiar to them. 

 Only one species i"*' is believed to be truly endemic. It is found only in the 

 mountains among the leaves of native ])lants. Phe other species frequent the 

 inhabited areas to such an extent as to pre;'hide the po.ssibility of their 

 belonging to the native fauna, even though, as in one or two instances, they 

 have never as yet been taken outside of the islands. 



The two larger common houfse roaches,"'' of which the American species is 

 the larger, have already been mentioned; hut six or seven species are liable 

 to occur about buildings, often in compar.y with them. 



^'^^ Hclinthrips hwmorrhouUUs. '^^^ Beliothrips riihr 

 ^''' A-nimhiM.1 mtorea. ^^» Blattodea. '"> Phyllodr 

 1"! PeriiAuveta americana and P. australasia; . 



