4 INSECT LIFE. 



the study of insects that can be easily obtained in any 

 part of our country. 



Following these lessons, which are numbered, 

 there is a chapter treating of the classification of 

 insects and their near relatives. With the aid of the 

 descriptions and analytical tables given in this chap- 

 ter, the student can easily determine the class to 

 which any insectlike animal belongs and the order 

 of any true insect. Finally, there are several chap- 

 ters in which directions are given for the study of 

 various insects, including a large proportion of the 

 more common groups of insects that are available for 

 study by inexperienced students. These chapters 

 (Chapters IV to VIII) are independent of each other, 

 and may be studied in any order. In these chapters 

 the structure and habits of insects living in particular 

 kinds of localities are treated under separate heads, 

 as Pond Life, Brook Life, Orchard Life, Forest Life, 

 and Roadside Life. 



The success of this part of the course will depend 

 largely upon the skill displayed by the teacher or 

 student in adapting the work to the local conditions. 

 In some localities, ponds will furnish the most avail- 

 able subjects for study ; in others, the brooks ; in still 

 others, the forests ; and in some the cultivated shrubs 

 and trees or the open prairie must be depended upon 

 for material. 



The work outlined in Part I has been planned 

 with the idea that the study shall be of Nature and 

 not of a book, and it is hoped that those who teach 

 this subject will make it a recreation for their pupils 

 and not a task. Most pupils can be easily interested 

 in insects if they are allowed to watch their habits 



