WHY STUDY INSECTS 



Insects affect our interests in numberless ways. A few 

 of them we cultivate for their products; honey bees, and 

 silk worms, and some others. Many of them are competitors 

 with us for foods, eating it green in the fields and gardens 

 or eating it dry in storage. A few attack our persons, and 

 give us great annoyance. 



By far the largest number of injurious species are those 

 attacking our growing crops. Competent observers estimate 

 that these cause a loss of at least ten per cent of all field crops 

 each year. In the United States, this means a tax on agri- 

 culture of more than $100,000,000 a year. In addition to 

 this, there are the losses caused by insects that destroy 

 stored food products and woolens, and by those that infest 

 live stock, and that convey infectious diseases to man and 

 beast. The causative agents of such losses surely merit 

 careful consideration. 



