148 



Blatta, Lin., 



Where there are five joints to all the tarsi. The wings are only 

 plaited longitudinally, the head is concealed linder the plate of the 

 thorax, and the body oval, orbicular, and flattened. 



Their antennae are setaceous, inserted into an internal emargina- 

 tion of the eyes, long, and composed of a great many joints. The 

 palpi are long, the thorax has the form of a shield. The elytra are 

 usually of the length of the abdomen, coriaceous or semi-membra- 

 nous, and slightly cross each other at the suture. The posterior ex- 

 tremity of the abdomen presents two conical and articulated appen- 

 dages. The tibiae are furnished with small spines. Their crop is 

 longitudinal, and their gizzard is provided internally with strong, 

 hooked teeth. They have eight or ten ceeca round the pylorus. 



The Blattse are very active nocturnal insects, some of which live 

 in the interior of our houses, particularly the kitchen, in bake-houses 

 and flour-mills ; the others inhabit the country. They are extremely 

 voracious, and consume all sorts of provisions. The species peculiar 

 to the French colonies are termed there Kakerlacs or Kakerlaques, 

 and are a source of continued irritation to the inhabitants, on account 

 of the devastation they occasion. They not only devour our articles 

 of food, but attack cloth, linen, silk, and even shoes. They also eat 

 Insects. Certain species of Sphex are constantly at war with them. 

 B. orientalis, L. ; De Geer, Mem. Insect., Ill, xxv, i, 7« 

 Length ten lines ; reddish chesnut-brown ; wings of the male 

 shorter than the abdomen; those of the female mere rudiments. 

 The eggs of the latter are inclosed symmetrically in an oval 

 and compressed shell, first white, then brown, and serrated on 

 one side. The insect carries it for some time at the anus, and 

 then fixes it by means of a gummy matter to various bodies. 

 This species is a scourge to the inhabitants of Russia and Fin- 

 land. It is said to be originally from Asia, and, according to 

 some authors, from South America. 



B. lapponica, L. ; De Geer, lb,, 8, 9, 10. Blackish brown; 

 margin of the thorax of a light grey ; elytra of the same colour. 

 It attacks the stock of dried fish, Avhich the Laplanders use in- 

 stead of bread. In Europe it inhabits the woods. 



B. americana, De Geer, lb., xliv, 1, 2, 3. Reddish; thoiax 

 yellowish, with two brown spots and a margin of the same co- 

 lour ; abdomen reddish ; very long antenna?. — America. 



gigantea, Fab. ; Herbst., Arcbiv. Insect. XLIX, 1 ; see Palis, de Beauv., Insect. 

 d'Afr. et d'Amer. The two species quoted, and all those which have not more than 

 fourteen joints in the antennae, compose my genus Forficula proper — Faun. Nat. 

 du R^gn. Anim. Those which have more, such as the F. yujantea and others, form 

 my genus Forficesila. All these Insects are winged. Those which are apterous 

 form a third genus, that of Chelidoura. Doctor Leach also divides the Dermap- 

 tera into three genera; 1. Forficula, with fourteen joints in the antennae ; 2. Labi- 

 doura, with thirty ; 3. Labia, with twelve. For further details respecting these In- 

 sects, as well as for others of the same order, see the Horce Entomologicce of M. 

 Toussaint Charpentier, 



