-^ BOARD OF AGRICrLTUPvE. 



tSJUEIOUS DfSECTS- 



BT PROF. C H- FERXJXD OF AMHERST. 



The insects of Massachusetts £ar exceed in number, both 

 of species and individuals, anything we can ever realize till 

 we make a careful and prolonged study of the group. In 

 fiict, the inse<:;ts of the world comprise four-fifths of all the 

 animals in existence. 



So rapidly are new species of insects discovered, that a 

 lai^e corps of scientists are compelled to work very industri- 

 ously in classifying, naming, describing and publishing their 

 researches, to dispose of the material as fast as it is dis- 

 covered and brought in. These newly discovered sj^ecies 

 are not only from the more remote and little known reirioas 

 of the globe, but here in our own Commonwealth are thou- 

 sands still unknown to science as well as to our farmers Of 

 all the vast hordes of insects in existence, not more than four 

 or five are directly l>eneficial to mankind. The honey l>ee, 

 the silk worm, the cochineal insect and the insect which pro- 

 duces shellac, comprise nearly the entire list. A compara- 

 tively small number are neither beneficial nor injurious, 

 while a larger number are indirectly beneficial, since they 

 destroy the injurious kinds ; but by far the largest numl»er 

 are directly injurious, as they feed, in one stage of their ex- 

 istence or another, on the crops of our fields, on our forests. 

 our orchards, our gardens, or infest our stock : while others 

 invade the sanctity of our homes and even devour our gar- 

 ments, and still others, more blood-thirsty, lie in wait for 

 our i^ersons. Although a vast number of insects have 

 already l>een deseril)ed and named, yet nothing whatever is 

 known of the early stages of the great majority of them : in 

 fact, the entire round of life is known of only a comparatively 

 small number. An immense field here presents itself for 

 investigation, the- results of which will be of direct advan- 

 tage to our farmers. What more legitimate work than this 

 can be undertaken by the exi^eriment stations of the country? 

 The first question which arises in the mind of a farmer when 

 he meets an unknown insect which attracts his attention is, 

 what is its name? The next question is, what does it do, 

 or what does it feed on? and next, how can it be destroved 



