INSECT NAMES. 



59 



entomologists may find the same species in different places and both will 



describe and name it, using- different names. Both names cannot 



be used, and it is now agreed that the name which was first published 



shall be used. This again causes great confusion, as people cannot 



agree which was the name first used. 



It can be seen that the naming of insects is a very difficult mat- 

 ter; there are, for instance, some 2,500 species of grasshoppers and 



locusts described; of these 



perhaps 400 are known to 



live in India, but there are 



probably also in India some 



400 more which have not yet 



been described; it is no easy 



matter to know, first, if any 



Indian grasshopper is the 



same as one of the 400 



already described in India; 



second, whether it is the 



same as one of the 2,500 



described from all parts of 



the world; or third, whether 



it is new; if it is new, that 



is, not yet described, it must 



be described as a new species 



and perhaps as a new genus. 



As locusts and grasshoppers 



make up only one of over 



200 families of insects, it 



is clear that it is no easy 



matter to use the scientific 



names of insects correctly. 



In this book scientific names are not much used; it is as easy to learn 



about the Bombay locust as it is about Acridium succinctuw, L. Persons 



who see an insect in the field and know that it is Pentadactylortkopteroi- 



des vigintioctonigropunctulomaculata N. are apt to forget whether it is a 



grasshopper or a beetle and whether it is injurious or not. No good 



is done by hurling scientific names at an insect in the field. It is far 



more important to be able to recognise a cockchafer, to know that its 



grub lives in the ground and eats roots, and to know that, if one is found, 



others are likely to be there and should be destroyed before they lay 



eggs. As far as possible, plain English names have been used for the 



'"'***' ' 7 



Fio. 89. 

 Caterpillar, Pupa and Moth. 



