CHAPTEE IX 



ORTHOPTERA CONTINUED BLATTIDAE, COCKROACHES 



Fam. III. Blattidae Cockroaches. 



Orthoptera with the head deflexed, in repose concealed from above, 

 being flexed on to the under-surface ivith the anterior part 

 directed backwards. All the coxae large, free, entirely cover- 

 ing the sternal surfaces of the three thoracic segments, as well 

 as the base of the abdomen. The sternal sclerites of the 

 thoracic segments little developed, being weak and consisting 

 of pieces that do not form a continuo2is exo-skeleton ; tegmina 

 and wings extremely variable, sometimes entirely absent. 

 The wings possess a definite anal region ca'pable of fan-like 

 folding ; rarely the wing is also transversely folded. The 

 three pairs of legs differ but little from one another. 



Fig. 118. Heterogamia 

 aegyptiaca. A, male ; 

 B, female. (After 

 Br miner.) 



The Blattidae, or cockroaches, are an extensive family of 

 Insects, very much neglected by collectors, and known to the 

 ordinary observer chiefly from the fact that a few .species have 



