42 MANDIBULATA. ORTHOI'TERA. 



Family IV.— BLATTIDtE, Stephens. 



Body broad and flat, oval ; antenncB very long and setaceous, consisting of 

 from 50 to 150 minute articulations; head somewhat triangular, often con- 

 cealed beneath the front of the thorax ; maxillary palpi elongate, with the 

 terminal joint somewhat securiform ; eyes kidney-shaped ; ocelli obsolete ; 

 thorax rounded, nearly transverse, margined; elytra lapping over on the 

 inner margin, the apex slightly gaping, as long as the wings, and frequently 

 longer than the abdomen, the latter flat above, convex beneath, terminated 

 at the apex with two jointed moveable processes, and occasionally also with 

 two inarticulate styles ; legs compressed, formed for running ; tibias very 

 spinous, the spines moveable ; tarsi five-jointed. 



The disagreeable insects comprised in this family, called " Cock- 

 roaches,'''' differ from the true Orthoptera by having the tarsi five- 

 jointed ; the body also is ovate, depressed, the head concealed 

 beneath the front of the thorax, the legs all formed alike, compressed, 

 with very spinous tibiae, the spines themselves being moveable ; the 

 apex of the abdomen is furnished with two porrect articulated pro- 

 cesses, in addition to two styles that are frequently present ; the 

 sexes chiefly differ in the number of segments to the abdomen, being 



Genus XIV.— BLABERUS, Serville. 



Antennae moderate; head nutant; thorax with its anterior margin rounded and 

 entire, completely concealing the head ; elytra gradually rounded on the 

 lateral margin, and not suddenly narrowed towards the apex, the disc with 

 a curved stria : body elongate, ovate, glabrous ; abdomen with its terminal 

 segment moderate and unarmed, but furnished with the usual appendages ; 

 legs rather moderate in length ; tibioe with long spines without ; tarsi with 

 the basal and terminal joints elongate, the intermediate stout, and each of 

 equal length ; the claws without any cushion between them. 



The want of a cushion between the claws is a leading mark of the separation 

 of this genus from the other assumed indigenous ones of this family, to 

 which other characters might be added, as the relative proportions in the 

 joints of the tarsi, &c. 



f Sp. 1. giganteus. Lividus, thoracis clypeo macula quadrata fused. (Long. corp. 



2 unc. 1 — 2 lin.) 

 Bl. gigantea. Linne. — Pantalogia (!) — Shaw, General Zoology, v. vi. pi. 41 (!) 



Steph. Catal. 303. No. 3352, note. 



Livid : thorax with a large fuscous spot on its disc. 



In the Pantalogia (article Blatta) this large insect is stated to be British, but 



