2 INSECT LIFE. 



organized beings, and at the same time experience 

 the pleasure derived from original investigation, he 

 can not find a better field than is offered by the study 

 of insects. 



But it is not necessary that one should have the 

 tastes and leisure required for careful scientific inves- 

 tigation in order to profit by this study. It can be 

 made a recreation, a source of entertainment when 

 we are tired, a pleasant occupation for our thoughts 

 when we walk. Now that so many of our people 

 are spending much time out of doors and summer 

 homes are so common, there is a special demand for 

 an introduction to Nature study, one that shall be 

 a practical aid in the identification of the more com- 

 mon forms of life about us, and a guide to a more in- 

 timate knowledge of their ways ; and this want has 

 been kept in mind in the preparation of this book. 

 The wonderful transformations of insects, their beau- 

 ty, and the high development of their instinctive 

 powers render them attractive subjects of study. 

 Any one can find out something new regarding in- 

 sect architecture — the ways in which these crea- 

 tures build nests for themselves or for their young. 

 It is easy to observe remarkable feats of engineering, 

 examples of foresight, wonderful industry, unremit- 

 ting care of young, tragedies, and even war and 

 slavery. 



The abundance of insects makes it easy to study 

 them. They can be found wherever man can live, 

 and at all seasons. This abundance is even greater 

 than is commonly supposed. The number of indi- 

 viduals in a single species is beyond computation — 

 who can count the aphids or the scale bugs in a 



