Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-05-19
HOUSEHOLD INSECTS.

The insects seem to be rather sighted
of late by entomologists, and ways and
means for their destruction are left al
most entirely to the housewife for de-
termination, who, while she may not
know the names of her small enemies,
will generally find some way of con-
quering them. Her little foes, while
really troublesome, are at the same time
quite interesting, and very minute sci
entifc description of many Of their DIFF
ferent stages Of life are not given in
print because the conditions necessary
to their fullest development cannot be
obtained in the small breeding cages
used by naturalists in rearing insects to
maturity. Domestic insects, while nu-
merous in numbers, are confined to COM
paratiVely few species, and little sketch
es Of the more important points in the
life history of the cockroach are given
below:
The bommon cockroach (Blatta ORR
entdltS) is rather an unknown friend
than an enemy. Being partially, if not
wholly carnivorous in appetite, it preys
on other household insects, particularly
bed-bugs and moths. Many authorities
claim that cockroaches destroy garments
by eating them. This statement may
be true but we do not believe it, because
for years we have protected the reaches
in the house as We do the toad in the
garden, and have noticed when the
reaches are plentiful that moths were
scarce, and when reaches were scarce
moth-millers were more plentiful, as
was the case this spring. They will
frequently run through cupboards, but
for what purpose it is difficult to ascer-
tain, as they are nocturnal in habit,
light frightens them and they immedi-
ately disappear. An experienced house
keeper claims that the sprinkling of
borax where they are not wanted Will
drive them away. They are fattened
and oval in shape, with a rounded head
partly hidden. Color, brown. Antenna,
or feelers, attached to the head, very
long. The young roach in the
larva state is very light in color,
has no wings or sign Of them. It keeps
on growing and melting, and, after a
while. little scale-like wings are seen
growing near the middle of the body.
Now it IS a pupa, but, instead of re-
naming quiet like the caterpillar, when
it changes to pupa, it keeps on moving
about, eating and growing until it molts
for the sixth time, when it reaches the
perfect insect with full-developed wings
and growth. The changes of the cock
roach and also of the grasshopper are
good examples of what we call incom-
plete transformation, or, in other words,
incomplete metamorphosis, while the
transformation of the butterfly, bee or
beetle are complete, because they do
not move and grow during the pupa
state. The eggs of the cockroach are
laid in case resembling a small-sized,
shiny black bean, about half an inch
long. The egg cases are frequently
found in houses, and, on being cut
open, reveal two little tiers of cells,
each cell containing an egg. There are
several species of cockroaches that live
in the woods. In the Eastern States
they have a species very troublesome in
the house called the "Croton bug"
Our common coclzroach is supposed to
have originated in Asia, spread into
Europe, and finally to America. This
fact gave to it the specific name of
Crie11tqlis.-Alice 3. Walton, IN Des
Mojnes Register.