[Illustration]

If you dislike to touch the cockroach so much, perhaps you will look at
this picture of a croton bug.

See, the upper wings are different; the cockroach does not fly with
them, he merely uses them to cover up the under wings, and we call them
wing covers.

It is the under wings the cockroach flies with.

Cockroaches may not be pleasant, but who can say they are not
interesting?

What other insect lays its eggs in little bandboxes?

Here is one of the little boxes, shiny and hard.

[Illustration]

This little case is at first a sticky substance that soon hardens. The
eggs lie in it side by side in two rows.

These cases remain attached to the abdomen of the female cockroach until
the eggs are all laid. Then the case falls off, and soon out runs a
crowd of infant cockroaches.

[Illustration]

The case is something like a satchel that shuts with a spring. The