64 
Psyche 
[June 
The rapidity of the ovipositional sequence explains why 
oviposition had not been seen previously in Diploptera. 
In only one instance did we see a newly formed ootheca 
completely extruded by a female. We had previously re- 
moved an obtheca from this female by finger pressure 
against her abdomen; apparently this manipulation had 
damaged her reproductive organs and she was unable to 
direct the subsequently formed ootheca into her brood sac 
(fig. 2). A similar abnormality has been observed in 
Nauphoeta cinerea (Roth and Willis, 1955). Females of 
Diploptera that were accidentally exposed to temperatures 
above 100°F. were seen to abort oothecae containing ap- 
parently dead eggs in various stages of development (fig. 
3) ; this effect of high temperature has been observed in 
Pycnoscelus surinamensis by Roeser (1940). 
Kotinsky (1909) found a female of Diploptera dytis- 
coides which, upon being captured, dropped a “batch of 
embryos” which had been projecting from her abdomen; 
he concluded from this that the species is viviparous. In 
Diploptera, the fully developed eggs lie diagonally in the 
brood sac with their cephalic ends pointed posterio-lateral- 
ly. The head of the full-grown embryo nearest the genital 
opening of the female may protrude slightly from the 
brood sac; if the female’s genital segments are spread 
apart, the embryo’s head may be readily seen (fig. 4). We 
have observed hatching of Diploptera several times. The 
abdomens of females carrying fully developed embryos be- 
come so distended that the intersegmental membranes be- 
tween the abdominal sternites are visible. The mature 
embryos are extruded head first (figs. 16-18). They ap- 
pear by pairs, swallowing air, the heads of successive pairs 
Explanation of Plate 6 
Figures 14-18. Diploptera clyti.scoides. Fig. 14. Older, dark-colored male 
in copula with a recently emerged, teneral female. Fig. 15. Spermato- 
phore (narrow region is the anterior part) removed from a mated teneral 
female. Figs. 16-18. Female giving birth; time interval between figures 
16 and 17 was 9 minutes; that between 17 and 18 was 22 minutes. This 
female gave birth to only 6 individuals; the others of the brood failed 
to emerge from the uterus. (Figure 15 about X13; all other figures about 
twice natural size.) 
