THE ORDERS OF INSECTS. 



ENTOMOLOGY, or the Science of Insects, concerns a great num- 

 ber of living creatures, some of which we see around us every 

 day of our lives. They are far more numerous than any other 

 group of animals, for about 12,000 different kinds are known to 

 inhabit England, although the smaller and less attractive groups 

 are very insufficiently known at present ; and at least twenty 

 times this number are known to be found in other parts of the 

 world. 



But in order to obtain a general knowledge of British insects, 

 it is by no means necessary to make yourself acquainted with 

 every one of these 12,000 species; for they have been divided 

 into sections, so that each individual species can be identified 

 and its resemblances to those most like itself perceived, and its 

 differences pointed out. When you have acquired a general idea 

 of the various sections of insects, you can then select the group 

 which you like best, and confine your attention to it ; but most 

 people, when they begin to collect insects, collect everything 

 which comes in their way, until they have formed this special 

 preference. 



Naturalists have begun by dividing the various objects which 

 we see around us into the Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral 

 Kingdoms. The Animal Kingdom is again divided into several 

 large sections called Sub-Kingdoms, to one of which, called- 

 variously Arthropoda, Annulosa, or Articulata, insects belong. 

 The Arthropoda have no internal framework of bones, like 

 vertebrate animals, but their bodies and limbs are formed of a 

 number of jointed pieces, of a bony or horny consistence, to 

 which the muscles are attached on the inside. This outer cover- 

 ing forms what is called their external skeleton, and its strength 

 and solidity is such that their activity and bodily powers are 

 frequently far greater in proportion to their size than in any 

 vertebrate animal. 



The Arthropoda are again divided into four principal classes : 

 Crustacea, including Crabs, Lobsters, Shrimps, Wood-lice, etc. ; 

 Myriopoda, or Centipedes ; Arachnida, or Spiders, Ticks, and 

 Mites ; and Insecta, or Insects. We need not now discuss the 



