Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . cheese and assafcetida, and seldom stirsabroad when the sun is up, but lies concealed in the mostobscure and obscene crevices it can creep into; so that when itis seen, its wings and body are thickly covered with dust and THE EGYPTIAN COCKROACH. j* 287 dirt of various shades, of which any culprit who chances to fallasleep with his mouth open is sure to reap the benefit, as ithas a great propensity to walk into it, partly for the sake ofthe crumbs adhering to the masticators, and also app
Insects abroad : being a popular account of foreign insects, their structure, habits, and transformations . cheese and assafcetida, and seldom stirsabroad when the sun is up, but lies concealed in the mostobscure and obscene crevices it can creep into; so that when itis seen, its wings and body are thickly covered with dust and THE EGYPTIAN COCKROACH. j* 287 dirt of various shades, of which any culprit who chances to fallasleep with his mouth open is sure to reap the benefit, as ithas a great propensity to walk into it, partly for the sake ofthe crumbs adhering to the masticators, and also apparentlywith a scientific desire to inspect by actual measurement, withthe aforesaid antennre, the state and condition of the wholepotato-trap. It is greatly to the nocturnal and light-hating habits of theinsect that its safety and increase are owing. When the Cock-roaches are out of their retreat, most insect-destroyers are asleep,except perhaps the hedgehog, which works great havoc amongthem, and, if servants can only be induced to appreciate andprotect it, becomes a most desirable inmate of a Male. Fig. 141.— Polypnaga (Dark brown.) In Egypt, the Cockroach attains rather formidable dimensions,as may be seen by reference to the accompanying illustration,which represents both sexes of their full size, the female being,as is usually the case among insects, much larger than the male,and being totally destitute of wings. These creatures infest theXile boats to such an extent that, before a traveller engages avessel for a trip up the river, he always, if he be an experiencedhand, sees that the boat is sunk for several days, so as to drownout the Cockroaches and other insect plagues. Orientals arestrangely indifferent to such things, and will rest in perfect con-tentment where an Englishman would be half distracted withpain and annoyance. The Egyptian Cockroach (Pohjphaga jEgyptiaca) very muchresembles our own domesticated species, except that it is much 288 Q
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1883
