i84 



NATURE-STUDY 



and crickets arc closely related, and. similarly, the bees, 

 wasps, and ants. They should be able to teU a bug from a 

 beetle, a butterfly from a moth 



Typcw oj Insects 



The meaning of the word Insect is frequently wrongly 

 stretched so as to include creatures that are not really in- 



Fig. 44. YounfT and Old Locust. 



sects. Thus spiders, isopods, and centipedes are called 

 "insects," and even so very different an animal as the coral 

 polyp is called by this name. 



What is an insect? This is best answered by studying 

 some typical insect, like the common grasshopper or locust. 



The body is divided into three principal regions, the head, 

 the chest or thorax, and the abdomen. The abdomen is 

 composed of ring segments, and so is the thorax, though not 

 so well seen. By bending the body it is seen to be jointed at 

 the neck, between the chest and abdomen, and also between 



