INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



Over twenty years ago Mary Orvis Marbury, in 

 her well-known and useful book, "Favorite Flies," 

 wrote : "At present fishermen are chiefly indebted 

 to the fly-makers of Great Britain for copies of the 

 insects alluring to game fish . . . and until we have 

 studied more thoroughly our own stream life we do 

 well to abide by many of their conclusions ; but there 

 can be no question that in the years to come the dif- 

 ferences between the insects of the two countries 

 wiU be better understood and defined, and that a 

 collection of the water insects interesting to fisher- 

 men of America, with directions for accurate imi- 

 tations, arranged after the manner of Ronalds' 

 'Fly-fisher's Entomology,' would be of great 

 value." 



To-day conditions remain the same. No one, as 

 yet, has seen fit to undertake such a collection of 

 American insects; although in the interval several 

 important books on English insects have been is- 

 sued — ^notably, Halford's "Entomology" and 



