CHAPTER XII 

 INSPXTS 



Insects are the most familiar and abundant of land ani- 

 mals, and number more species than are known of all 

 other kinds of animals together. Nearly 400,000 differ- 

 ent species of living insects have so far been found, and 

 thousands of new ones are discovered each year. Beetles, 

 moths and butterflies, flies, wasps, bees and ants, dragon- 

 flies, plant-bugs and grasshoppers are to be found in the 

 vicinity of any schoolroom, and the interesting habits of 

 insects, their great variety and abundance, and the readi- 

 ness with which they may be collected, kept alive, and 

 studied, make them unusually fit animals for the special 

 attention of beginning students of zoology. 



Our studies with the silkworm, moth, mosquito, dragon- 

 flv, and grasshopper have already made us acquainted 

 \\'ith the elementary facts concerning the body-form, 

 structure, and life-history of insects, while our later stud}' 

 of the communal life of the hone}'-bee and ants will show 

 us the fascinating interest which the special study of cer- 

 tain of the more highl)' organized insects may have. 



Insects are classified into various groups called orders, 

 of which all the beetles constitute one, the moths and 

 butterflies one, the tAvo-wingcd flies one, the ants, bees, 

 wasps, etc., one, and so on. But to learn much about 

 this classification, ^\'hich constitutes s\-stt'm;itic cntomol- 

 og>', recjuircs a great deal of time and persistence (in ac- 



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