COCKROACHES (BLATTID^'^. 253 



the Common Black Beetle (Blatta orientalis), which is dark 

 chestnut - brown ; Periplaneta americana, or the American 

 Cockroach, a much larger species, often an inch and three- 

 quarters long, with a yellowish thorax with chestnut -brown 

 markings, chestnut-brown wings, and the antennae very long. 

 The third species is caUed the German Cockroach (P. ger- 



PiG. 129.— Female and Male common Cockboach {Blatta onentalis). (Nicholson.) 



manica), and is a small yeUowish-brown species, with two dark- 

 brown stripes on the thorax. Another species, P. austral- 

 asicB, is also found doing some harm in conservatories. The 

 Black species (B. orientalis) is only winged in the male, the 

 others in both sexes. The eggs are laid in packets, and some- 

 times, as in P. geiinanica, are carried about by the female. 

 The young are all pale-coloured, and occasionally almost white 

 when they have just changed their skin. 



Prevention and Remedies. — Persian insect - powder, spread 

 about where these pests are, is a good remedy ; but trapping 

 keeps them well in hand, whilst a hedgehog wiU speedUy clear 

 them out from the basements of houses. 



It is not necessary to refer to the Locusts, Grasshoppers, and 

 other Orthoptera, as they are not destructive in England. The 



