CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 17 



ings of many Insects often surpass those of birds in the skill 

 displayed in their construction, etc., as the vespiaries, or 

 artificial dwellings of Wasps, or the tents of the Tent-cater- 

 pillar, or the variously constructed cocoons of Butterflies. 

 But we can not enlarge more upon these qualities, as they 

 will be mentioned in the descriptions of the different Insects. 

 According to the improved, ingenious arrangement of 

 Linnaeus, Insects are divided into the following seven or- 

 ders, viz. : 



I. Coleoptcra. BEETLES or CHAFERS. All Insects with horny 

 bodies, six legs, and four wings, of which the up- 

 per ones are horny, and 'the lower ones parch- 

 ment-like, as the Stag-beetle, May-beetle, ejc. 

 II. Ilemiptera. BUGS. All Insects with four parchment-like 

 wings, six legs, and who obtain their nourishment 

 by sucking with a movable proboscis, as the Ci- 

 cadas, Plant-lice, Bed-bugs, etc. 



III. Orthoptera. STRAIGHT- WINGED INSECTS. Insects with four 



parchment-like wings, of which the upper ones 

 overlap on the back, and the two under ones arc 

 thin and folded together like a fan. They differ 

 from those of the preceding order in that they 

 have strong jaws instead of a movable proboscis, 

 as, e. g., the Grasshopper, Cricket, and many 

 others. 



IV. Lepidojytera. BUTTERFLIES, HAWK-MOTHS, and MOTHS. In- 



sects with four expanded wings, covered with col- 

 ored farinaceous scales. 



V. Neuroptera. NET-WINGED INSECTS. Those which have four 

 transparent, net-woven, or lattice-like wings, as 

 the Dragon-fly, etc. 



VI. Ilymcnoptcra. VEIN-WINGED INSECTS. "With four transparent, 

 veined wings, and generally provided with a ven- 

 omous sting, as Bees, Wasps, etc. 



VII. Diptcra. TWO-WINGED INSECTS. As Flies and Mosqui- 

 toes. 



