cockrel

[COCKEREL.] cock'-rōaçh, s. [From Sp.cucaracha.] Entom.: Generally, any insect of the family Blattide, or, at least, of the genus Blatta; and specially, the Blatte orient a les, so common in houses, particularly in seaport towns. The Cockroach is said to have come originally from India, through the Levant. It is often called the Black beetle, an erroneous name, for it is not a beetle at all, but an orthopterous insect. [ORTHOPTERA.] When the male is mature it has wings half the length of the body, while those of the female are but rudimentary. It is nocturnal in its habits. Its appetite is omnivorous. It leaves an unpleasant smell on provisions which it has been unable to devour. The eggs are deposited in horny cases, in which they are arranged with much regularity, in two rows, with a central partition, and smaller ones isolating each egg from the other. [BLATTA, BLATTIDE.]