Insect Study 



379 



covers. The under pair are thinner and are laid in plaits like a fan. The 

 wing-covers are as polished as the body and quite as successful in shedding 

 dirt. 



The legs are armed with long spines which are very noticeable and 

 might prove to be a disadvantage in accumulating filth; but they are 

 polished also; and too, this insect spends much time at its toilet. 



Cockroaches run "like a streak", children say; so speedily, indeed, do 

 they go that they escape our notice, although w^e may be looking directly 

 at them. This celerity in vanishing, saves many a cockroach from being 

 crushed by an avenging foot. 



When making its toilet, the cockroach 

 draws its long antenna through its jaws as 

 if it were a whiplash, beginning at the base 

 and finishing at the tip. It cleans each leg 

 by beginning near the body and so stroking 

 downward the long spines which seem to shut 

 against the leg. It nibbles its feet clean to 



the very claws, and 



scrubs its head 

 ously with the 

 femur. 



The cockroach's 

 eggs are laid in a mass 

 shaped covering, which 

 polished and protects its contents from damp 

 ness. When the cockroaches, or the croton 

 bugs, as the small introduced species of cock- 

 roach is called, once become established in a 

 house, the only \Yi\y to get rid of them is to 

 fumigate the kitchen w^ith carbon bisulphide 



vigor- 

 front 



.vtililK'*'*!; 



Egg-case of cockroach. 



enclosed in a pod- 

 is waterproof and 



Cockroach laying her case 

 of eggs. 



Photo by M. V. Slingerland. 



which is a dangerous performance and should be done only by an expert. 



LESSON LXXXIII 

 The Cockroach 



Leading thought — The cockroach is adapted for living in crevices, and 

 although its haunts may be anything but clean, the cockroach keeps itself 

 quite clean. The American species live in fields and woods and under 

 stones and sticks and only occasionally venture into dwellings. The 

 species that infest our kitchens and water-pipes are European. 



Method — Place a cockroach in a vial with bread, potato or some other 

 food, cork the vial, and pass it around so that the children may observe 

 the prisoner at their leisure. 



Observations — i. What is the general shape of the cockroach? Why 

 is this an advantage? What is the texture of its covering? Why is this 

 an advantage? 



2. Describe the antennas and the way they are used. Note the two 

 little pairs of feelers at the mouth. If possible, see how they are used 

 when the cockroach is inspecting something to eat. Can you see whether 

 its mouth is fitted for biting, lapping or sucking its food? 



