THE LIVING WORLD. 
239 
The Orthoptera include cockroaches (. Blattidce ), devil-horses {Mantides), 
crickets (Gry Hides), grasshoppers and katydids (Locustides), and the true 
locusts (Acridides). Though the orthoptera undergo various metamorphoses 
and frequently exuviate, there is but little difference between the first and last 
stages of their existence. The orthoptera represent the earlier forms of insect 
life, being found as far back as the “ Devonian period,” as termed by geolo¬ 
gists ; fossil remains abound in Illinois, Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho. The 
blattides (or cockroaches) are familiar to the sense of sight and of smell, and 
their wanton wastefulness does not decrease the disfavor in which they are 
held. Their compressible skins enable them to “ crawl through a very small 
hole,” and though naturally nocturnal in their habits, they seem to have 
learned how not to pass the day in slothfulness. Warmth and dampness are 
favorable to their growth and prosperity, and therefore the kitchens of houses 
are favored resorts. They have become great travellers through infesting 
vessels, and have been very successful in their capacity of stowaways. In 
this way they have become cosmopolitan, and have safely entrenched them- 
1 
6. HUNTING beetle ( Staphylinus erythropterus). 14. snapping beetle ( Agriotis lineatus). 2. leather bug 
(,Carabus coriaceus). 9. burying beetle (Necrophoms vespillo). 8 death simulator (Hisler'unicolor). 
20. grape-vine SUCKER ( Rhynchites alni ). 27. may-beetle (Moles proscarabeus). 25. Cucujus sangui- 
nolenlus. 4. water-beetle (Gyrinus natator). 
selves in all parts of the world. The cockroach carries about its body the 
e gg-case until the young animals are ready to come forth. 
Like the hen, she broods and is very solicitous about her young. The 
cockroach is nearly omnivorous, and hence the difficulty of tempting it with, a 
pleasure of taste which shall be fatal. The German cockroach (Ectobia ger- 
manica) is the one which frequents our houses, infests our bakeries, and de¬ 
stroys our cloth-bound libraries. The oriental cockroach especially frequents 
our sinks. The American cockroach, though frequenting dwellings, prefers a 
life in the sewers and slums. . 
The Mantidae, vulgarly called devil-horses and praying insects, bear a 
resemblance to leaves and twigs, and have received their name from a fancied 
resemblance to soothsayers or devotees; they are carnivorous, and, like the can¬ 
nibals, feast themselves even upon their own kind when slain. They l le m wai t 
for their prey, and will kill butterflies, potato-beetles, caterpillars and grasshoppers. 
