MORSE: ORTHOPTERA OF NEW ENGLAND. 299 
wrought by time be so carefully and completely studied as here; 
none other has furnished more important evidence conoerfiing the 
phylogeny of insects" (Scudder). 
The Cockroach family is thus one of ancient lineage, though of 
hopelessly plebeian tastes, and many of its members are, to 
human eyes, of repulsive appearance and unpleasant associations. 
Adapted by their flattened form to find ready concealment in 
crevices, when disturbed they scuttle away on rapid feet, with 
head hidden beneath their shoulders, into the darkness and pro- 
tection afforded by near-by cracks and crannies. Omnivorous in 
diet, they devour with insatiable appetite everything edible that is 
not too hard or tough for their flabby jaws, and leave defilement 
wherever they pass. 
Endowed as they are with such habits and tastes, it is only 
natural that some species should have associated themselves with 
barbaric, hut-dwelling man, become domesticated, and continued 
with him into civilized dwellings, until they are now all but 
unknown in the wild state. And these obnoxious vermin afflict 
man with their presence and depredations in spite of his efforts 
to be rid of them. 
Their biologic relation to man as a purveyor of food and shelter 
is well shown in a tabular statement of the family as it is found in 
New England : 
Native species, lix-ing out-of-doors 3 
Adventive North American species 1 
Exotic species, living in buildings, fully established but dependent on man 5 
Adventive exotic species, occurring accidentally, brought in with articles of 
commerce in ships, etc 8 
Total 17 
The exotic species of adventitious occurrence are, in practically 
every instance, accidental specimens of tropical and subtropical 
Roaches w-hich have hidden themselves in merchandise, notably 
banana bunches and orchids, and have by this means been 
introduced inadvertently into New England. Fortunately, they 
fail to establish themselves and become permanent members of 
our insect fauna owing, it is probable, chiefly to climatic reasons. 
It is likely that many other species of similar habits and distribu- 
tion will be reported from time to time, in consequence of similar 
