172 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



A second and much larger species is the Oriental Cockroach or "black beetle," 

 Periplaneta orientalis, which sometimes appears about meal bags, after dark, in badly 

 infested houses. This insect is very dark brown, or almost black, 

 and has the wings shorter than the body in the male, and only 

 rudimental in the female. It frequents chimney-corners and sinks, 

 and only comes forth after nightfall. The species is said to moult 

 six times before maturing. 



The remedies recommended for the preceding species are aj^plic- 

 able to this one ; for while the pyrethrum does not invariably kill, 

 it renders them stupid and helpless, so that they may be swept up 

 and destroyed. Powdered borax well sprinkled about their haunts 

 will drive them away, and is said to kill them if mixed with pow- 

 dered white sugar. A simple and effective roach trap, commonly 

 used in England, is a dish or soup plate half filled with stale beer. 

 This is set upon the floor with thin sticks of kindling wood placed 

 „ . , , round it like scaling ladders, up which the roaches climb into the 



1 IG. 248. — Penplaneta . o J r 



orientalis, "black alluring beverage. 



The two roaches just mentioned seldom swarm simultaneously 

 in the same house, and this fact is generally believed to be due to their feeding on one 

 another. Indeed, the omnivorous habits of the I'eriplaneta orieiitalis are some com- 

 pensation for its annoyances. It is not only a great scavenger, keeping pantry and 

 kitchen corners clean and wholesome, but it has the very commendable habit of feed- 

 ing on that far more obnoxious household pest, the bed-bug, so that the encouragement 

 of the " black beetles " may sometimes be desirable. 



Our American Cockroach, Periplaneta americana, is somewhat larger than the 

 oriental species, is lighter brown, and has the wings well developed in both sexes. It 

 also frequents houses as do those already described, but prefers to linger about water- 

 pipes and sewers, and is the species most frequently seen among the cargoes of vessels. 

 It is also very numerous in greenhouses where it breeds in great numbers, and does 

 considerable injury to the various plants upon which it feeds. We have observed that 

 it is unusually fond of the foliage of the cinchona plant. 



Platamodes pennsylvanicus is a common species in the woods, where it is found 

 under stones and old logs. It also frequently enters houses after dark in midsummer. 

 In California a species of cockroach (apparently an undescribed species of the genus 

 Heterogamia) is sometimes found in which the female is wingless, and burrows in the 

 sand, while the male is furnished with long wings and flies about after nightfall, when 

 it is sometimes attracted by lights and enters houses. Similar species are found in 

 southern Europe and northern Africa. Among the large sf)ecies inhabiting tropical 

 countries there are many wingless forms which bear a strong resemblance to some of 

 the crustaceans, and which also frequent similar localities. 



There are numerous other forms of Blattidm that we might mention as being 

 of interest, but as they are all local in their distribution, and are chiefly confined 

 to countries lying within the tropics, we will pass them over. Mr. Seudder has 

 described several species of these insects from the coal-measures of North America, 

 and one from the tertiary beds of Colorado, while there are quite a number of species 

 described from the coal-measures of Europe. It is difiiciilt to give an accurate 

 estimate of the number of species belonging to this family on account of the extremely 

 local distribution of many of the forms, and also on account of the Blattidee having 



