INSECTS AND VERMES 42; 



In their holes they turn into their pupae state, and so 

 come forth winged in July : eating their way through the 

 valances or curtains of a bed, or any other furniture that 

 happens to obstruct their passage. 



They seem to be most inclined to breed in beech ; hence 

 beech will not make lasting utensils, or fiirniture. If their 

 eggs are deposited on the surface, frequent rubbing wiU 

 preserve wooden fiarniture. 



BLATTA ORIENTALIS. COCKROACH 



A neighbour complained to me that her house was over- 

 run with a kind of black beetle, or as she expressed herself, 

 with a kind of black-bob, which swarmed in her kitchen 

 when they got up in the morning before daybreak. 



Soon after this account, I observed an unusual insect in 

 one of my dark chimney closets, and find since, that in the 

 night they swarm also in my kitchen. On examination, I 

 soon ascertained the species to be the blatta orientalis of 

 Linnaeus, and the blatta molendinaria of MouiFet. The 

 male is winged ; the female is not, but shows somewhat 

 like the rudiments of wings, as if in the pupa state. 



These insects belonged originally to the warmer parts 

 of America, and were conveyed from thence by shipping 

 to the East Indies ; and by means of commerce begin to 

 prevail in the more northern parts of Europe, as Russia, 

 Sweden, etc. How long they have abounded in England 

 I cannot say ; but have never observed them in my house 

 till lately. 



They love warmth, and haunt chimney-closets, and the 

 backs of ovens. Poda says that these and house-crickets 

 will not associate together ; but he is mistaken in that 

 assertion, as Linnaeus suspected he was. They are alto- 

 gether night insects, lucifugae, never coming forth tiU the 

 rooms are dark and stiU, and escaping away nimbly at the 

 approach of a candle. Their antennae are remarkably long, 

 slender, and flexile. 



October 1790. After the servants are gone to bed, the 



