AN 



ELEMENTARY MANUAL 



OF 



NEW ZEALAND ENTOMOLOGY. 



CHAPTER I. 



IN the present chapter I propose to give a brief sketch of 

 the general principles of Entomology, including a rudi- 

 mentary glance at the anatomy and classification of insects ; 

 after which I think the reader will be in a better position 

 to study the habits and life-histories of the individual 

 species which follow. 



The first requisite is a definition of what constitutes an 

 INSECT. 



An Insect is an articulate animal having the body divided 

 into three distinct divisions, viz., the HEAD (Fig. I. A), the 

 THORAX (B), and the ABDOMEN (C). It is furnished with 

 three pairs of legs, and generally has two pairs of wings, and 

 to acquire this structure the creature passes through several 

 changes, termed its metamorphoses. 



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