826 



found in the highly organised structure of the eyes in 

 the majority, althoush in some the organs of sight 

 consist only in a number of small tubercular lenses, 

 which are moreover found in some species which also 

 possess the compound or facetted eyes. The head is 

 also furnished, in the majority of the tribe, with a pair 

 of articulated organs, varying infinitely in their con- 

 struction, termed antennae, of which the precise uses 

 have not hitherto been decidedly ascertained. Such 

 are the leading characters of the great mass of animals 

 to which Linnicus gave the name oflnsecta, but which 

 Latreille has changed into Condylopa, from the arti- 

 culated structure of the legs. The anatomical inves- 

 tigations of foreign naturalists, about the commence- 

 ment of the present century, threw a great light upon 

 the real nature of the various groups of Linnaean 

 insects, and upon the respective value of the charac- 

 ters by which the orders into which they had been 

 divided were separated from each other. It was 

 thence at once discovered, that, although the winged 

 orders of insects established by Linnaeus were nearly 

 allied amongst themselves, the wingless order (Aptera] 

 contained a mass of objects having the most discord- 

 ant organisations, and which, when properly examined, 

 were proved to be characteristic of groups of higher 

 rank even than the winged orders themselves. In 

 this manner the apterous Linnaean genera, Cancer, 

 Monoculux, and Oniscus, were formed into the class 

 Crustacea; Aranea, Scorpio, Phalangium, and Acarus, 

 into that of Arachnida; whilst Scolopendra and Julus, 

 as a group named Muriapoda, Lepisma and Podura, 

 under the name of Thysanura, and Pediculus under 

 that of Anoplura, have been alternately raised to the 

 rank of classes, or regarded as orders in the classes 

 Arachnida and winged insects, to which last it has 

 been proposed to restrict the name of insects. But 

 this is a step to which we would strenuously object. 

 We would not willingly be charged with veneration 

 for the works of our predecessors in science merely 

 because they happen to be old ; but we do object to the 

 spirit of innovation which cannot distinguish between 

 what is old and what is good ; and if the Linnaaan 

 group of insects is to be retained, as we submit that 

 It ought to be, as one of the chief divisions of animals, 

 we would certainly retain for it the name of Insecta, 

 which so peculiarly refers to the great character of 

 the group, in preference to that of Condylopa proposed 

 by Latreille. It may indeed be said that it is not 

 proper to apply the name of insect to a crab or a 

 lobster, but they are as strictly insected animals as a 

 bee or a beetle ; and it may be said, that if we apply 

 the name in this general manner we shall need some 

 other name to distinguish the true winged insects 

 from the Crustacea and Arachnida, and this it must 

 be admitted is the fact; and the question then 

 arises shall we, in order to obviate this difficulty, 

 throw ourselves into the other dilemma, and take 

 away the name of Insecta from insected animals. 

 We, however, see no occasion for this step. Syste- 

 matically, the winged insects may be named Ptilota, 

 as proposed by Aristotle, and the Linnaean insects 

 will retain their name of Insecta, divisible into four 

 classes, namely, the Crustacea, Arachnida, Amctabola, 

 and Ptilota ; the first two of which are treated upon 

 under their respective heads, and may therefore be 

 dismissed from our future consideration. The third 

 is a class the limits of which have been by no means 

 decided by entomologists, Dr. Leach placing in it 

 only the hexapod lice (PedicuK), and the spring-tailed 



ECT. 



insects (Lepisma and Poduree') ; whilst MacLeay hat 

 added thereto the Myriapoda, consisting of the two 

 orders Chilopoda (Scolopendrce) and Chilognatha (luli' 

 as well as certain verrnes. It would occupy us too 

 great a space to enter into the considerations reqni. 

 site for the investigation of the correctness of these 

 views. We shall therefore (having already treated 

 upon the last named insects in their alphabetic order) 

 now confine ourselves to the true metamorpholic or 

 winged insects, or the Ptilota of Aristotle. In our 

 article ENTOMOLOGY we have entered into some 

 general considerations, in order to prove that the 

 study of this branch of zoology is attended with great 

 interest, resulting from the countless tribes of insects, 

 their various forms, singular instincts, &c. With the 

 further view of enticing the reader to follow us in 

 our necessary details of the structure of these tribes, 

 we now propose to renew the subject, by laying 

 before him a short notice of the benefits and injuries 

 resulting from insects to mankind, in order to prove 

 to him that these little creatures are not so insignifi- 

 cant as he might be induced to believe them to be, 

 but are very capable of rendering themselves obnoxi- 

 ous to him, should he be disposed to consider them 

 as not worthy of his attention, or, on the contrary, of 

 being rendered highly beneficial. 



Of all animals, insects are unquestionably the 

 most obnoxious to mankind, either personally or from 

 their attacks upon his property, their minute size 

 ensuring them success in their assaults, and scarcely 

 permitting the possibility of extirpation. On the 

 other hand, the benefits which he experiences, either 

 directly or indirectly, are scarcely less extensive. If 

 we would, therefore, endeavour successfully to combat 

 the former, it can evidently only be done by the 

 acquisition of a knowledge of their habits in every 

 state of their existence, and in this point of view the 

 study of entomology becomes of the highest import- 

 ance. Let us take, for instance, the turnip-fly, of 

 which we have given an account in our article 

 HALTICA, and here we find that all the numerous 

 investigations of the committee of the Doncaster 

 Agricultural Association proved useless, because the 

 natural history of the insect itself was not ascertained. 

 In like manner, it must be equally evident that the 

 diffusion of similar knowledge, and more especially 

 inquiries into the chemical properties of many insects 

 hitherto considered useless, might be the means of 

 adding considerably to the list of benefits conferred 

 by insects on man. 



Of winged insects very few species have hitherto 

 been found serviceable as articles of food. It is true, 

 that in the deserts of Asia and Africa, where the 

 locusts acquire a large size, these insects are em- 

 ployed, when dried and preserved, as food. The 

 writer has tasted locusts thus prepared, and has found 

 them not unpalatable, but they are said to possess 

 but very little nutritious quality, and to produce dis- 

 ease when too much is eaten. The larvse or grubs of 

 many large beetles are also devoured by the negroes 

 of India and America ; and even the luxurious Romans 

 were exceedingly fond of a large fleshy grub, which 

 they called cossus, and which is supposed to have been 

 the larva of the goat moth (census ligniperda). In like 

 manner, the white ants are devoured by the savages 

 of Africa and America ; whilst the great quantity of 

 honey annually consumed in every quarter of the 

 world is sufficient to prove that, in this point of view, 

 insects are highly beneficial. It has also been re- 



