OUTLINES OF ENTOMOLOGY. 123 



pairing the former generally dines upon her partner. These insects 

 are of large size two inches or more in length. The head is triangular, 

 free, very wide at the top, with large, round, singularly expressive eyes ; 

 antennae thread-like and not very long ; mouth at the apex of the in- 

 verted triangle; jaws strong, though small. The thoracic joints are 

 cylindrical and elongated, and move freely upon each other; the fore 

 legs (graspers) are not used for walking, but are folded and held up in 

 a position suggesting the attitude of prayer, though it is really one of 

 menace. The hind body is oval or oblong, somewhat flattened, and in 

 the male completely covered by the folded ample wings, and the over- 

 lapping wing covers. The female has much shorter wings and wing 

 covers, and is incapable of flight. The sexes differ also in color, the 

 male being dull-brown while the female is usually some shade of green. 

 This description applies to the only species commonly met with in the 

 United States below the thirty-ninth parallel, namely, Phasmomentis 

 Carolina. The eggs are laid in a compact oblong mass, which closely 

 resembles a fossil called a "trilobite." It is attached by its flat surface 

 to fence-posts, the wood of trellises and the stems of shrubbery. These 

 egg masses should never be destroyed, as the Mantes are very useful 

 in clearing gardens and vineyards of plant-feeding pests. 



The section CURSOR! A, family BLATID^E, is represented by the 

 disgusting and omnivorous household pests, the Cockroaches. These 

 insects have no attractions of form or color, and have a disagreeable 

 odor which they communicate to the closets and rooms infested, while 

 their swift motions and the deftness with which they disappear into 

 almost invisible cracks and crevices is most exasperating to their pur- 

 suer. There is nothing to be said in their favor, except that they prey 

 upon the bed-bug, an instance in which the "cure is as bad as the dis- 

 ease." They have received various common names, such as " black 

 beetles " and " croton bugs," but are quite generally recognized as 

 "roaches" or "cockroaches." They are all nocturnal in their habits 

 and very partial to warmth and moisture, which accounts for their 

 abundance about kitchen sinks and in the holds and pantries of ships, 

 steamboats and similar situations. They are of very flat, oblong form, 

 with the head horizontal and almost concealed by the projecting margin 

 of the collar. The antennse are long and slender; the legs spiny and 

 nearly equally developed ; the wing-covers are usually present, but some- 

 times short, and the under wings often entirely wanting. The females 

 lay all their eggs in one mass, enclosed in a bean-shaped sack, which is 

 often carried about for some time before being dropped. Dr. Eiley has 

 observed that the females of some species remain with and protect 

 their young. The latter are at first pure white, and at every molt the 



