io6 
THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 
Family Blattid^E (Blat'ti-dae). 
The Cockroaches . 
After every one is in bed at night and all is quiet in the 
kitchen where there are water-pipes, often a throng of little 
creatures come forth from hiding-places and, like brownies, 
take possession of everything. They race around every 
where, trying to find something to eat; they do not care 
much whether it is raw or cooked, but will devour almost 
anything that comes in reach of their greedy jaws. They 
eat book-bindings and bedbugs, if they find them, with 
equal alacrity; and sometimes they get bold enough to 
appear in broad daylight. The little, pale brown rascal called 
the Croton-bug, which came to us from Europe and infests 
the vicinity of the pipes 
of the water systems of 
many of our cities, is es¬ 
pecially bold and impu¬ 
dent (Fig. 113). In fact, 
in the North our native 
cockroaches are mostly 
F>g. 1x3.—The 
Croton-bug. 
Fig. i i 5.—Ootheca of a Cock¬ 
roach. 
Fig. 114.—A Wing¬ 
less Cockroach. 
respectable, well-behaved insects, living in fields and forests 
under sticks and stones, the emigrant cockroaches being the 
offenders. Many cockroaches are wingless (Fig. 114). The 
eggs of a cockroach are laid, all at once, enclosed in a 
sort of pod which is more or less bean-shaped (Fig. 115). 
Thorough and frequent dusting with insect-powder in the 
cracks about the kitchen will rid a house of these pests. 
Family Mantid^E (Man'ti-dae). 
The Praying Mantes , or Mule-killers . 
Certainly they are pious-looking fellows, with their front 
legs clasped together in front of their meek, alert faces, and 
