THE BRITISH HEMIPTERA. 



the object of their pursuit, and hence many collections, which 

 at first contained specimens of all the orders, were gradually 

 restricted to a single order, and the Lepidoptera or the 

 Coleoptcra generally contrived to play the cuckoo's part and 

 to drive the other orders from the collection, and monopolize 

 the entire attention of the collector. Occasionally it has 

 happened that an Entomologist has divided his labours be- 

 tween the Coleojytera and the Lepidoptera ; but more 

 generally the attention was exclusively given to a single 

 order, and of late years most collectors have commenced 

 their Entomological career either as Lepidopteiists or Cole- 

 opterists. 



The Hymenoptera have perhaps received the next largest 

 share of attention ; and, thanks to the labours of Mr. Frede- 

 rick Smith, we have several excellent little volumes on our 

 British bees and wasps, issued by the Trustees of the British 

 Museum. 



The volume lately issued by the Ray Society treats of a 

 portion of the order Heniipteraj for it so happens that the 

 order Hemiptera divides readily into two distinct sub- 

 orders, so distinct that Westvvood, in his '' Introduction to 

 the Modern Classification of Insects," places them as two 

 distinct orders — the Homopfera and the Heteroptera, but 

 later writers on the group (such men as Fieberand Flor, who 

 have specially devoted their attention to the study of these 

 insects) treat the Somoptera and the Heteroptera as sub- 

 orders of the primary order Hemiptera. 



Linne, in his " Systema Naturae," included in the Hemi- 

 ptera not only the Homopfera and Heteroptera^ but also the 

 Orthoptera. 



Fabi'icius removed the Orthoptera^ but retained together 

 the Homoptera and Heteroptera under the name of Rliyn- 

 gota. 



Stephens in his " Systematic Catalogue of British In- 



