406 SLATTA. 



Genus I. — Blatta, 



T^Hls order of infefls has been fubdivided into elex'ea 

 different genera ; the firfl of thefe is the blatta, or cock- 

 roach, which comprehends that well known fpecies of 

 animals which frtquent kitchens and hnkehoufes. Their 

 appearance is ugly and deformed 3 they feldom, however, 

 prefent themfelves by day ; and though in our immediate 

 vicinity, aiid of coiifiderable fize, they are but rarely feen. 

 If furprifed in their hauiits while it is light, they fpeedily 

 cfcape by running ; their wings being unfit for flight, ex- 

 cept in the males ot fome fpecies who make auk ward at- 

 tempts at flying. The night is their feafon of aiSlivity, 

 when they iffue from the crevices near the chimney in 

 quell of crumbs of bread or dough. 



In this ifland the cockroach is probably always a do- 

 meftic animal : In warmer countries, however, there are 

 different kinds which haunt the fields in great numbers. 

 The hakkerlac of the American ifles, that voracious ani- 

 Tnal, which fo greedily devours the provilions of the in- 

 habitants, is of this genus. That infedl, like our cock- 

 roach, (huns the liglit of day; during which it lies con- 

 cealed in fome hole, till darknefs approach, to favour 

 thofe depredations for which it has long been fo infamous 

 in the New World. 



The larvae of all the different fpecies of blatta differs 

 but little from the ptrfea infed, excepsing m the total 

 want of the wings and elytra. In that Hate, meal is its 



cojnmoB 



