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The Insects — Arthropods (Cont.) 



One of the main reasons for the great importance of the arthropods 

 is the inclusion of the insects in the phylum. A person may feel be- 

 littled when called an insect, but, after a study of this interesting group 

 of animals, he may feel complimented, for insects are certainly a very 

 successful class of animals. They make up only one of about fifty 

 animal classes, yet there are more species in this one class than there 

 are in the other forty-nine. They are abundant almost everywhere on 

 the face of the earth ; there are probably more of them in your back 

 yard than there are people in your city. They have a persistence and 

 aggressiveness that are unequaled in any other animals. Consider a 

 mosquito humming around your head ; no amount of slapping or wav- 

 ing discourages it ; it will persist for hours if necessary until either 

 a full meal or death rewards it efforts. Insects have an ingenuity that 

 challenges the best that man has to offer. They were making paper 

 from wood pulp when man was chiseling crude characters on stone tab- 

 lets. Domesticated animals and cultivated plants were their source of 

 food supply long before man had the idea. They have a highly de- 

 veloped social organization that functions more smoothly than the best 

 that modern man has devised. They have a strength all out of propor- 

 tion to their small size ; an ant commonly carries loads several times its 

 own size and weight ; a flea easily jumps a hundred times its own body 

 length. The list of insect accomplishments could be greatly extended; 

 they are certainly not a group to be belittled in spite of their small size. 



Insects, as a group, are one of man's greatest enemies. They destroy 

 our food plants. It is very hard to find a peach or an apple without a 

 "worm" in it unless the tree was carefully sprayed during the time the 

 fruit was developing. Few ears of fresh corn can be bought at the mar- 

 ket without one or two "worms" that have eaten some of the tender ker- 

 nels at the end, or signs of their previous presence. Grasshoppers de- 

 stroy and damage crops of all kinds. Hessian flies claim a large part of 

 the wheat crop each year. Even after a crop is harvested it is by no 

 means exempt from insect damage ; large quantities of stored grain, fruit, 

 and other foods are destroyed each year while awaiting consumption. 

 Insects are a general nuisance with their bites and stings, and the most 



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