282 ELEMENTARY SCIENCE 



trying to get into houses for winter quarters. June "bugs " 

 and potato "bugs" are not real bugs, but are beetles. 

 Some bugs have a complete metamorphosis, but most of 

 them do not. 



The beetles are very numerous, but most of them stay 

 hidden. You find them abundantly in rotting wood or 

 under the ground. The so-called " pinching-bug " is one 

 of the commonest forms of beetles. The outer wings of 

 beetles are hard and are not used in flying. Hence the 

 name of the order, Coleoptera, which means sheath-wings. 



Then there is the great group of flies which includes 

 mosquitoes. These, you know, are the great disease-car- 

 riers, and in that way do more harm to man than all other 

 kinds of insects. They are called Diptera, which means 

 two wings. You know that insects regularly have two pairs 

 of wings, but in flies and mosquitoes there are only two 

 wings. The second pair of wings (hind pair) found in 

 other insects has been changed in the flies, being repre- 

 sented by two small rods called "poisers," because they 

 are believed to help the insect to keep its balance when 

 flying. 



Then there are the butterflies and moths, which every 

 one knows. The name of their order is Lepidoplera, which 

 means scale-wings, referring to the fact that their wings 

 and bodies are covered with scales that are usually colored. 

 It is very common to see the brightly colored butterflies 

 and moths flitting about flowers and sucking out the 

 nectar. 



The sixth order contains the bees and wasps and ants, 

 and is named Hymenoptera, which means membrane-wings, 

 referring to the thin, papery wings. It is much the largest 

 order, and contains very important and interesting insects. 





