THE EVOLUTION OF THE INSECTA. 41 



Fritz Miiller is of opinion^ " that the most ancient 

 insects approached more nearly to the existing Orthop- 

 tera, and, perhaps, to the wingless Blattidce, than to 

 any other order, and that the complete metamorphosis 

 of the Beetles, Lepidoptera, &c., is of later origin," 

 There were, he adds, " perfect insects before larvae 

 and pupjB." 



The following passage gives his views so clearly, 

 and is so interesting, that I need no apology for quoting 

 it entire : 



" The order Orthoptera, including the Pseudo-neu- 

 roptera (Ejjhemera, Libellula, &c.), appears to approach 

 nearest to the primitive form of insects. In favour of 

 this view we have — 



" 1. The structure of their buccal organs, especially 

 the formation of the labium, ' which retains, either 

 perfectly or approximately, the original form of a 

 second pair of maxilla ' (Gerstacker) . 



" 2. The segmentation of the abdomen 



" 3. That, as in the Crustacea, the sexual orifice and 

 anus are placed upon different segments ; ' whilst the 

 former is situate in the ninth segment, the latter occurs 

 in the eleventh' (Gerstacker). 



"4. Their palseontological occurrence; in a fossil state 

 the Orthoptera make their appearance the earliest of 

 all insects, namely, as early as the Carboniferous 

 formation, in which they exceed all others in number 

 (Gerstacker). 



"5. The absence of uniformity of habit at the present 

 day in an order so small when compared with the 

 Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, &c. For this also is 

 usually a phenomenon characteristic of very ancient 

 groups of forms which have already overstepped the 

 climax of their development, and is explicable by ex- 

 tinction in mass 



" If from all this it seems right to regard the Orthop- 

 tera as the order of insects approaching most nearly 



^ ' Facts for Darwin,' p. 118. 



