PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS 333 



societies. I wish we liad such a society in each of the hirge cities 

 of the -state. But such societies come onl}^ from the self-sacriiicing 

 effort of some individual or groii]^ of individuals. They cannot 

 be forced into activity at will. 



The topic to- which I wish to ask your attention and which I 

 present as the annual address provided for at each a.nnual meeting 

 may be entitled : 



THE ORIGIN OF THE WIXGS OF INSECTS. 



Insects weire evidently the first of all animals to acquire the 

 power of flight. Except, perhaps, the birds, they have remained 

 to the present time the most successful aerial navigators and they 

 present certainly the greatest variety O'f Aving structure. They are 

 the only creatures among the invertebrate groups that have suc- 

 ceeded in developing the power of independent flight. 



From an economic point of view the -^^'ings of insects constitute 

 a most important fact since it is bv this means that they are 

 rapidly distributed from point to point and their destructive effects 

 greatly enhanced. To the systeniatist the wings are of the utmost 

 importance since they furnish the basis of classification for all 

 divisions of the class. They have been plastic structures easily 

 molded by adaptation and changes both by elaboration and 

 reduction are numerous. 



It becomes, therefore, a matter of special interest to inquire 

 into the structure of these organs and to trace, if possible, the mode 

 of their origin. 



While such a study may not add anything tO' the solution of 

 the practical problem of aerial navigation for man it will certainly 

 instruct us to learn Avhat we can as to how a problem so difficult 

 for man was solved by such apparently insignificant animals. 



Insects l^egan to fly, that is, insects were provided with wings 

 and we assume that they could fl}^, away l^ack in the paleozoic age 

 probably millions of 3^ears before any such locomotion was pos- 

 sible to birds or even the more ancient flying reptiles. 



The most ancient of the fossil remains referred to as a winged 

 insect are the Protocimex Silurica of the Ordovician of Sweden 

 and next is a primitive orthopteran species formerly thought to be 

 closely related to cockroach and called Paleoblattina douvallia 

 taken from the middle Silurian.* It may seem to those unfamiliar 

 with the methods of biology that inference as to the character of 

 these forms from fragnuentary fossils is of doubtful value yet so 

 firm is our conviction as to the certainty of the association of 

 certain types of structure that ^re build up around these little 

 fragments, depicting the structure of an insect wing, though separ- 



* Dr. B. H. Sellards (Am. Jour. Sci. Vol. XVI. p. 324) states the doubt 

 existing as to the accuracy of the reference of these fossils to insects. Later 

 appearance of first winged insects does not, however, alter the sequence of 

 habit and structure for which this paper argues. 



