Prefatory Note and Suggestions. 



Feeliug the lack of a work with which the subject of Entomology may be 

 presented by a teacher to his pupils, so that their powers of observation may 

 be educated by a study of insects, both in the field and in the laboratory, the 

 material of the following pages has been selected, for the most part, from 

 Packard's Guide to the Study of Insects, Harris's Insects Injurious to Vegeta- 

 tion, and Kcllernian"s Outline of Guide to Entomology, and arranged in the 

 form of a Tabular View and Check Tablets so as to present, in as small space 

 as possible, all the essential characters of the Class, Orders, bub-orders, and 

 Families of Insects, to serve as a Key to the same, and to furnish the pupil 

 with all the terms necessary to a full description of a specimen before him. 

 It is believed that acquiring the name of the species is far less important than 

 gaining the ability to see, describe, name, and give the several parts of the 

 insect: and henc3 it suggested that no attempt be made to learn other than 

 the names of the order, sub-order, and family of each specimen, and these 

 only "incidentally." But in the check taljlets the name of the genus and 

 species, as well as family, should be written if jtossible: — Muscldae, Musca 

 domestica, Linn., House-iiy. 



The descriptions may be checked off by placing a cross (X) opposite each 

 descriptive term, in the first column for the first insect, second for second, and 

 so on. To indicate less, nearly or "Snb,'' the line from right to left ( /) may 

 be used, and to indicate still lets, the line from left to right (\). To indicate 

 prominently or strongly, a double cross may be used, or less strongly, one 

 line only should be doubled. In noting the color of a specimen use B for 

 black, Br for brown, Bl tor blue, Db for drab, Dk for dark, G for green, Gy for 

 gray, L for light, O for orange, R for red, T for tawny, W for white and Y for 

 yellow, etc The abbreviation or cross written below a bar denotes that the 

 character is possessed on under side, and the abbreviation or cross above the 

 bar denotes that the character is possessed on the upper side of the insect. 



The habit of the insect during flight and when at rest should be carefully 

 abserved and noted. The food, place of laying eggs, and position and kind of 

 nest (if any) should likewise receive careful attention. The larger and more 

 common insects should be studied first, as they present all the parts of the 

 body in better size, and are more readily classified. 



Perhaps a knowledge of the terms used in the check tablets nmy be gained 

 most readily by classifying a number of specimens so far as j^ossible by using 

 the tabular view, and then finding the genus and species in reference books 

 like the first and second mentioned above. Each species should then be num- 

 bered, and each member of the class required to write its description in the 

 proper tablet. The descriptions may then be compared and corrected in class 

 or otherwise as may be desired. 



L. C. W. 

 Whitewater, Aug. 1879. 



