COCKROACHES 19 



tive insect or not, the cockroach is a very 

 successful one ; it is an arriviste — as ' our 

 Hvely friend, the Gaul,' to quote Mr. Micawber, 

 would say — probably owing to its attaching 

 itself in all cases, and with unvaried devotion 

 to the habitation of men. Not popular with 

 humanity, it nevertheless ceaselessly extends 

 its domain by slowly yet surely entering into 



Fig. 7. — Nymph (in last larval stage) escaping from old skin. Magnified. 

 (From Miall and Denny.) 



new and hitherto unconquered human habita- 

 tions. In spite of insect-traps and vermin- 

 killers, it is extremely difficult to eradicate 

 from a house when once it is well established. 

 It has, in fact, gradually dislodged in most 

 places in Great Britain and Ireland the old 

 domestic house-cricket. For in spite of its 

 irritating, and to some people quite madden- 

 ing, ticking, the ' cricket-on-the-hearth ' has 

 somehow established itself as a household 

 pet, and one that has won not only our 



2 



