18 INTIIODUCTION. 



every class of animals is most indisputably attended with peculiar ad- 

 vantages : yet I will ventin-e to aftirni, that it is from a knowledge of 

 the characters and metamorphoses of these little animals, and the va- 

 rious modes of life which they are destined to pursue, that he will ob- 

 tain a more intimate acquaintance with the great laws of nature, and 

 veneration for the Great Creator of all, than can be derived from the 

 contemplation of any other class in nature. The beauty of insects 

 in general, renders them engaging to many who have neither time nor 

 inclination for studying their more complicated structure; and the 

 gaiety of their colours, often combined with the most graceful forms, 

 displays a beauty, splendour and vivacity, greater than that bestowed 

 by the hand of Nature on any of her other works. One dcftct in ap- 

 pearance must indeed be conceded; and this may be regarded, in 

 point of beauty, a material deticiency indeed, — they are not always so 

 considerable in magnitude as to become, even with these embellish- 

 ments, strikingly attractive. Were they equal in size to the smallest 

 birds, their elegance would render them more inviting to the eyes of 

 mankind in general ; but, even amongst the minor species, when ex- 

 amined with a microscope, we find their beauty and elegance far supe- 

 rior to that of any other class of animals in the creation. " After a mi- 

 nute and attentive examination," says Swammerdam, '*' of the nature 

 and structure of the smaller as well as the larger animals, I cannot but 

 allow an equal, if not superior, degree of dignity to the former. If, 

 Avhilstwe dissect with care the larger animals, we are filled with wonder 

 at the elegant disposition of parts, to what a height is our astonishment 

 raised when we discover their parts arranged in the least in the same 

 regular manner ! " 



Insects may be divided into two kinds; those which are immediately 

 or remotely beneficial or injurious to mankind. Many insects in- 

 deed seem not to aft'ect us in any manner; others, and by far the 

 greater number, most assuredly fall under one or the other denomi- 

 nation, and on this account demand our most serious attention. But, 

 lest the alleged utility of some insects should seem hypothetical 

 to the superficial observer, whilst the noxious eftects of others are 

 too obvious to admit of doubt, I shall be more explicit upon this 

 suijject. The depredations of insects upon vegetable bodies are often 

 detrimental; but it must be remembered, that in these ravages they 

 often repay the injury they commit. Locusts, the most destructive 

 of all insects, whose numbers spread desolation through the vegetable 

 world, are not (except on some occasions when their multijilication e.x- 

 ceeds all bounds) unproductive of advantage. Although they deprive 

 mankind of a certain portion of v^egetable food, yet, in return, their 

 bodies aftbrd ruitriment of a wholesome and palatable kind, and in 

 much greater abundance. Tiie various species of locusts are the com- 

 mon food on which the inhabitants of several parts of the world sub- 



