BRITISH INSECTS AND HOW 

 TO KNOW THEM 



CHAPTER I 



INSECTS IN GENERAL 



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T)ROBABLY most of us believe that we know an 

 JL insect when we see one ; but if we were asked to 

 put our conception into words, we might find ourselves 

 in difficulty. Everyone has heard of the railway 

 porter who was faced with the necessity of classifying 

 a tortoise for purposes of freightage. He is reported 

 to have laid down the law somewhat as follows : " Cats 

 is dogs, and monkeys is dogs, but this here's an insect 

 and don't count." The fact is that the term insect, 

 when used in its scientific sense, has a much more 

 definite meaning than many people realize. At one 

 time it covered all the members of the vast group 

 known as the Gnathopoda, or "foot-jawed " animals, 1 

 including crabs, lobsters, spiders, ticks, centipedes, 

 and many less familiar forms of life. But nowadays, 

 by common consent among naturalists, it is reserved 

 for that particular section, or class, of the Gnathopoda 

 to which the alternative name Hexapoda (" six-footed") 

 has been given. Thus, when a naturalist speaks of an 

 insect, he means in the first place that the creature in 



1 Also called the Arthropoda i.e., " with jointed feet." 



