202 



GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



'The American cockroach, Periplancta a merle-ana 



(L.), is, as its name 

 implies, a native of 

 this country, but, 

 like the Oriental 

 roach, it has spread 

 to the four corners 

 of the earth. It is 

 by far the largest 

 species found in the 

 State, the male 

 measuring If inches 

 from head to tip of 

 wings, the latter in 

 both sexes reaching 

 beyond the end of 

 the abdomen. The 

 general color is red- 

 dish-brown, the top 

 of the thorax being 

 margined rather broadly with yellow. In Indiana 

 it seems to be of rather limited dis- 



rip 



tribution, as I know of its occurrence 

 American _^ 



Cockroach m ^nt ^ wo coun ties, Putnam and 

 Marion. It occurs in numbers in 

 some of the leading hotels of Indianapolis, but usually 

 confines itself to the basement and first floor, and 

 appears to be much more cleanly in its choice of an 

 abiding place than does the closely allied Oriental 

 roach. 



The Pennsylvania cockroach, Ischnoptera pennsyl- 

 vanica (DeGeer), is also a native species, and is the 



Fig. 42 American Cockroach. 

 (Enlarged one-third. After Howard.) 



