Introduction. 



TO almost every fly fisher sooner or later there comes 

 a desire for more knowledge of the various insects 

 seen at the waterside and used in his craft, and also 

 a wish for some definite idea as to their classification and life 

 history. 



Should the reader not be possessed by this desire, we 

 strongly recommend him to miss this chapter, which is an 

 attempt to convey a broad idea of the general classification of 

 insects with as few technicalities, and in as simple language 

 as possible ; but withal in such a form as to be acceptable 

 to fellow anglers, and so that even the least initiated will be 

 enabled to distinguish an Ephemeron from a Stonefly or a 

 Caddis Fly, and so on. The expert entomologist may scorn 

 the feeble attempt ; this, however, is not written for his edifica- 

 tion, but for the humble followers of the immortal Walton 

 who prefer wading in a pellucid stream to the intricacies of an 

 entomology. 



It is not necessary that the angler should know every 

 species by name — to do so would entail the work of a lifetime, 

 as the species are numbered by thousands, and many of the 

 differences which determine the species are so small as to be 

 negligible from the angler's point of view. It is, however, 

 both useful and interesting to have a broad idea of the general 

 classification of the insect world, and such knowledge will give 

 added enjoyment to many an hour when angling interest flags. 



From the purely sporting point of view, the angler with a 

 knowledge of entomology, possesses a great advantage, and is 

 able readily to select a suitable fly; whereas, one without this 

 knowledge is liable to fall into mistakes which appear grotesque 

 to the initiated. 



