137 



that snininer the birth-rate was enormous, so tliat the soil was 

 literally swarming with yonng of various stages. Early in Sep- 

 tember, I found most of the adults were dead, and all of them 

 covered with mites. Since these mites did not appear to attack 

 the nyni])hs, I removed all of the old roaches from the jar, at 

 once, and wet down the soil. The activity of the young roaches 

 in scrambling thru the soil may account for their freedom from 

 attack. 



March 15, 1915, the first adult emerged ; a second one ap- 

 peared on March '2Hth, and another today — April 1st, being 

 iO months a nymph. Since these roaches lived in their native 

 soil and were continually sup]ilied with food and drink, we get 

 some notion of the length of their i)eriod of development under 

 rather favorable conditions. 



Bhyparohia maderae (Fab.). 



ISTine adult specimens, received from Hilo, Hawaii, on N"ov. 

 14, 1914, thru the kindness of Bro. Matthias Newell and Mr. 

 Ehrhorn, have given me the opportunity to make observations 

 on this, our largest roach. 



These insects came over in a box, packed in moss; and I 

 have kept them in this same material, transferring them to a 

 glass jar with a cover of wire screen. A small quantity of 

 water was sprinkled on the moss and they were supplied with 

 bits of bread. They were evidently very hungry, for they be- 

 gan eating at once and sipping up the water. 



A Viviparous Species. 



The day following their arrival I discovered young in the 

 moss. These were separated out into another jar with some of 

 the moss ; and found to be 32 in number. They have much the 

 appearance of the ordinary sowbug, in form and color. 



This makes the fourth viviparous species for our Hawaiian 

 fauna. This habit of bearing living young appears to be rather 

 uncommon among roaches in general, being confined to tropical 

 species. The first case mentioned in the literature* was a 

 South American form {Panchlora viridis). 



Insect Life, Vol. Ill, p. 443. 1891. 



