72 
W. MICHAELSEN : 
VOLUME II, Part 9, BLATTIDAE. 
By R. Shelford M.A., F.L.S. (Oxford). 
Pp. 1 29-142, with Plate XIII. 
“ The collection illustrates admirably the fact that Australia 
is the head-quarters of the apterous cockroaches belonging to 
the Polyzostena group of the subfamily Blattinae, no fewer than 
27 species out of a total of 41 being of this section. Australia 
presents so many evidences of the great antiquity of its fauna 
that 1 should like to be able to assert with confidence that the 
Polyzosleriae constitute a very ancient group of cockroaches, but 
this I cannot conscientiously do. The geological evidence is 
directly opposed to the view that apterous Blattidae are more 
primitive than winged forms and the method of depositing the 
eggs in a chitinous capsule as do all the Blattinae cannot be 
regarded as other than a highly specialised habit ; we can only 
say that it is probably a more primitive habit than is viviparity 
in this group of Ortiioptera. It is quite likely that the climatic 
conditions of Australia are in part responsible for the large 
proportion of apterous species of Blattidae in that continent ; 
without being able to explain the reason it is nevertheless a fact 
that in desert regions or in regions where droughts are of long 
duration apterous species of Blattidae are more numerous than 
winged species, whilst in the moist jungles of West Africa and 
the Malay Archipelago the converse is true. The collection of 
Drs. Michaelsen and Hartmeyer illustrates this fact also, for of 
the eleven species not belonging to the apterous Polyzosteria 
group, only six possess wings capable of flight, and of" these 6 
species, 2 are importations from extra-Australian areas, and 1 
is winged in the male sex only, n of the species in the collection 
I regard as new to science." 
Subfamily Phyllodromiinae. 
Phyllodrornia germanica, L. — Denham, Fremantle. 
,, sp. — Guildford. 
,, lituraia-, Tepp. — Guildford. 
Allacta similis, Sauss. — Torbay. 
Ceraiinoptera ensifera, n. sp. — Jarrahdale, Lunenberg, Bridgetown. 
Temnopteryx platysoma, Walk. — North Fremantle, Boyanup, 
Torbay. 
Loboptera c-ircumcincta, Tepp. — Denham, Dirk Hartog, North- 
ampton, Coolgardie, Lion Mill, Guildford, Fremantle, 
Gooseberry Hill, York. 
duodecimsignala, Tepp. — Lion Mill, Subiaco, Karra- 
katta, Buckland Hill, Fremantle. 
Subfamily Epilamprinae. 
Epilampra sp. — Denham, Moora, Donnybrook. 
