CHAPTER V. 

 INSECTS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 



Entomology, or the study of insects, had its origin 

 far back in the days when scientists were generalizers 

 and had not yet become specialists, each in his particular 

 realm. Linnaeus, Carl von Linne, so often called the 

 father of modern botany, was one of these general scien- 

 tists. The field covered by this one man included 

 minerals, animals, and plants, any one of which is more 

 than enough for one man nowadays. Nevertheless, the 

 thoroughness of his work in insects is evidenced by the 

 fact that his seven orders of insects remained a satis- 

 factory system of classification for more than half a 

 century. Classification is, of course, not the most impor- 

 tant thing about an animal or a plant, nor is it in any 

 sense a finality in the study of the living being. When 

 one has the name for a living being, he has a handle for 

 using the tool of this new information in working out more 

 valuable conclusions. The economic relations of that 

 living being with other animals, with plants, or with 

 man, are more important. Comparison of the structure 

 of the lower animals with the higher is valuable. To 

 estimate how closely a bee approximates a man's sense of 

 sight, or transcends man's ability to smell keenly, to 

 recognize his kind, and to find his home without road, 

 compass, chart, or beaten track, all these are much more 

 valuable than to know that this particular bee rejoices in 

 the name of Apis mellifica. Yet, where there are thou- 



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