CHAPTER XVIII 



INSECTA (continued) 



Order HI. : Orthopteea (Cockroaches, Grasshoppers, 

 AND Earwegs) 



General ^^E Orthoptera, or " straight-winged " insects, like 

 Character- all the Insect orders, are characterised by special 

 istics. wing characters. They have two pairs of wings ; 

 the first pair is usually somewhat harder and stronger than 

 the second, and is laid flat over the back, forming a case over 

 the other wings which are membranous and used in flying. 

 The front wings, therefore, recall those of Coleoptera, but 

 the back wings are different and are specially characteristic ; 

 each is elaborately folded, the parts closing on one another 

 like the segments of a fan ; this folding in straight segments 

 has given the name Orthoptera ^ to the order. Occasionally, 

 however, where the back wings are relatively very large they 

 may have one or two transverse folds as well. In many 

 species the wings are rudimentary or absent. The Orthoptera 

 also differ from the Coleoptera, or true beetles, in the gradual 

 metamorphosis of the larva into the adult form — there being 

 no quiescent pupal stage as there is in true beetles. The mouth- 

 parts are adapted for biting ; there is a pair of hard mandibles, 

 and both on the soft jaws (maxillae) and on the labium 

 (Fig. 200) are conspicuous soft palps. 



Sub-order 1 : Cursoria (The Running Orthoptera). 



Family 1 : Blattidae. 

 Type : The Cockroach (Stylopyga ( = Periplaneta) Orientalis). 

 The almost universal antipathy felt towards the so-called 



1 Orthos, straight ; pteron, a wing. 

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