34 



to perform the operation. AVhen time or cir- 

 cumstances will not admit of this process, we 

 would recommend their being put into spirits. 

 It is also necessary to observe, that in many of 

 the species the antennae are very long and as 

 fine as a hair ; great care is therefore requisite 

 in packing them, that they may not be injured 

 by other insects getting loose in the box. 



Order 6. DICTYOPTEBA. Elytra coriaceous, 

 nervose, decussating each other ; wings mem- 

 branaceous,with a few longitudinal folds ; max- 

 illary palpi elongate ; body depressed, oval, 

 or somewhat orbicular ; tarsi with five joints. 

 [PL II, fig. 6.] 



The insects of this order are the too well- 

 known Cock-roaches, or the Black Beetles of 

 cooks and housemaids : the species generally 

 found in the kitchens of the houses in this me- 

 tropolis is not, strictly, a native of this country, 

 but was introduced originally from America. In 

 a state of nature, cock-roaches inhabit trees, 

 secreting themselves during the day in crevices 

 and beneath the detached bark of trees ; in 

 tropical countries they are large and nume- 

 rous. The females are generally apterous, or 

 have their wings abbreviated. The different 

 species are, as yet, but little known. A genus 



