352 ORDERS OF PTILOTA. 



fluid, which the animal often disgorges when seized. The 

 internal structure of the larva does not differ from that of 

 the imago. 



All the known species of this order are terrestrial. Stoll 

 has, indeed, represented an extraordinary insect, belonging 

 to this order, as an aquatic species, but there is no confirm- 

 ation of this circumstance. 



The species found in our part of the world deposit their 

 eggs but once in the year, which takes place at the end of 

 the summer, when they have assumed the perfect winged 

 state. They perish at the approach of winter, and the spe- 

 cies are perpetuated by the eggs remaining unhatched, 

 dm'ing the winter, in the earth where they were deposited, 

 the larvae coming forth in the following spring. 



It is (hfficult to preserve the insects of this order, without 

 considerable attention, in our collections, the body, being 

 moist and fatty, attracting destructive insects, such as the 

 Anthrenus, Dermestes, &c. It is on this account that some 

 of the species which are natives of Africa are eaten by the 

 negroes, who have thence obtained the name oi Acridophagi. 

 The order, excluding the earwigs and including the cock- 

 roaches (which Dr. Leach separated as an order under the 

 name of Dictyoptera), is divisible as follows : — 



Section A. Cursoria. — Hind legs formed for running or 

 walking ; vdngs and wing-covers generally horizontal ; 

 females not provided with a horny exserted ovipositor. 

 Fam. 1 . BlattidcB. — Tarsi five-jointed ; head hidden be- 

 neath the shield of the thorax ; body flattened and 

 oval or rounded. (Cockroaches.) 



2. MantidcB. — Tarsi five-jointed; head exposed; body 

 long, and generally narrow; fore-legs raptorial. 

 (Soothsayers.) 



3. Phasmidce. -^Tarsi five-jointed ; head exposed ; body 

 long, and generally narrow ; fore-legs not raptorial. 

 (Spectre insects.) 



