PREFACE TO ORIGINAL EDITION 



The figures illustrating the venation of the wings of insects have been 

 drawn with great care under the writer's direction by Mr. E. P. Felt and 

 Mr. R. H. Pettit. About one half of those in the chapter on Lepidoptera 

 were drawn by Mr. Felt; the others in this chapter and those in the 

 chapters on Diptera and Hymenoptera were drawn by Mr. Pettit. 



I wish also to acknowledge the help of my Assistant Mr. A. D. Mac- 

 Gillivray, to whom I am indebted for much aid in bibliographical re- 

 searches and in many other ways; also, that of Dr. A. C. White of the 

 Cornell University Library, who has generously given much time to 

 determining the etymologies of many of the more obscure words the pro- 

 nunciations of which are indicated in the text. 



To the authorities of Cornell University the authors of this book are 

 under deep obligation for aid and encouragement. The preparation of 

 the work would not have been possible but for the liberal grants which 

 they have made for the purchase of specimens and books. 



John Henry Comstock 



Entomological Laboratory, 



Cornell University, 



December, 1894 



