222 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT. 
spotted and father more gaily adorned, being, as Stoll 
affirms, no way contemptible in regard to colouring. 
They are nocturnal insects, and it was probably one 
of the species which, on that account, the ancients 
designated lucifuga. They are exceedingly voracious, 
scarcely any kind of edible substance coming amiss to 
them, and even attacking others which can scarcely be 
said to come under that designation ; of the latter des- 
cription are leather, silks, and woollen stuffs, which 
they gnaw with their well armed mandibles, and greatly 
injure. Their omnivorous and destructive propensities 
are well known in this country, from the prevalence 
of one of the species, (-B. orientalist) originally sup- 
posed to have been brought from the east, and now 
completely naturalised. It frequents cellars, bake- 
houses, kitchens, &c. is somewhat less than an inch 
in length, and of a dark reddish brown colour. The 
wings are shorter than the abdomen in the male, and 
merely rudimentary in the female, which, on this ac- 
count, very much resembles the larva, when these 
organs are wanting in both sexes. It lays sixteen 
eggs, which are enclosed in a kind of bag of an oval 
shape, at first white but afterwards becoming brown. 
This is borne for a time at the extremity of the anus, 
and then deposited in some warm place, and secured 
to the spot by some adhesive gummy matter. 
Besides the common species about a dozen others 
occur in Britain, but one-third of these have no claim 
to be considered indigenous, having been accidentally 
introduced along with foreign commodities. One of 
these exotic kinds, however, seems to have obtained 
