126 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



bedbug, cockroaches have a peculiar and disgusting odor 

 wherever they have runways. This is familiarly known 

 as the "roachy" odor. Dishes left standing on a shelf 

 for some time where roaches are abundant are apt to 

 become so impregnated with this odor that food after- 

 wards cooked or served in them tastes unpleasant. 



Cockroaches are among the oldest insects, geologically 

 speaking, that we have. They existed in great numbers 

 during the coal forming age when the prevailing tempera- 

 ture was warm and the atmosphere full of moisture. 

 Under these conditions the cockroaches developed in 

 numbers and species until, entomologically speaking, this 

 period might be called the age of cockroaches. It will 

 shed some light upon the habits of our present-day roaches 

 if we remember the moist, warm environments under 

 which their ancestors appeared and lived. 



Most of our domestic cockroaches came originally from 

 tropical regions, very likely from the warmer parts of 

 Asia. They were carried to England and Holland during 

 the sixteenth century in the ships that brought teas, 

 spices, and perfumes from the East. For many years they 

 were found only in seaport cities, but gradually spread 

 among the inland towns. Probably, because of their 

 tropical origin, these insects are not able to stand low de- 

 grees of temperature. Hubbard tells us that the cock- 

 roaches, even in dwellings, were nearly all destroyed in 

 Florida during the severe freeze of 1894 when so many 

 orange trees were killed. On the other hand, there is one 

 species of cockroach that inhabits the huts of the Lap- 

 landers and occurs in such numbers at times that the stores 

 of dried fish put away for the winter are greatly damaged 

 and sometimes destroyed. 



