MORSE: ORTHOPTERA OF NEW ENGLAND. 311 
customarj'- It received its American niiinc of Croton-hug 
V^ecause of its rapid spread in New York City sinuiltaneously 
with the introduction of the Croton water service, and its presence 
is to be expected in every city and town with a community 
water supply; and in many without, where conditions are favor- 
able for its existence. 
A lover of heat and moisture, possessing the instinct to hide 
and the ability to insinuate itself into exceedingly narrow 
cre\'ices; with a special liking for food of a starchy nature 
which is everywhere available in association with man, it takes 
advantage of the presence of steam- and water-pipes to gain 
access to all parts of buildings, particularly to those where food 
may l)c readily secured. It travels wherever man carries mer- 
chandise, and unceasing vigilance and persecution are often not 
enough to exterminate it, once it has taken possession of favorable 
quarters. 
Blatchley in his "Orthoptera of Indiana" gives an excellent 
account of this species, from which the following remarks are 
quoted : "It seldom if ever occurs in numbers in the country, but 
is one of the worst insect pests with which the inhabitants of the 
larger cities . . . have to deal. It is the most fecund of all 
the roaches and the seasons of mating and hatching of the young 
are, perhaps, more irregular than in any other species. Adult 
forms are . . . to be found at all seasons of the year. 
. . . Where it once obtains a foothold and the surround- 
ings of temperature and food supply are favorable, it is almost 
impossible to eradicate, as its small flattened form enables it to 
hide and breed in cracks and crevices which none of the other 
roaches can enter. 
''Like many other omnivorous animals. Croton-bugs find in 
wheaten flour a food substance which is rich in nutrition and 
easily digested, and so they prefer wheat breads and starchy 
materials to all other foods. On account of this liking they often 
do much harm to cloth bound books by gnawing their covers in 
search of the paste beneath. They also seem to have a peculiar 
liking for paints of various kinds, and in the office of the U. S. Coast 
and Geodetic Survey, at Washington, have done much damage 
