CHAPTER Vn 



THE NATUBE OF INSECT ATTACKS 



The greater part of the damage done to garden 

 plants is the work of insects, and few plants are 

 immone from their attacks. 



The number of different species of insects is 

 immense, and the diversity of their food is only 

 exceeded by the diversity of their forms. Different 

 as they axe in size and appearance, however, they 

 have certain characteristics in common, viz. the 

 body and its appendages jointed ; the body separable 

 into three distinct parts, head, thorax, and abdomen; 

 six legs (and in addition in caterpillars, etc., some 

 sucker feet) ; in the mature state two or four wings 

 (rarely none) ; breathe through holes in the sides of 

 the body, not through the mouth ; have " feelers " 

 or antennae attached to the head (these are organs 

 of touch and hearing, and probably also of scent) ; 

 and usually progress from egg to perfect insect 

 through a remarkable series of changes easily seen 

 in the history of the moth, where the egg hatches 



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