PREFACE. 



1 have not attempted, in the preparation of this work, to place before my 

 readers an account of all the rare and newly discovered insects of New- 

 York and New-England, but have confined myself to those which are most 

 common and widely distributed. The rare and the local possess an interest 

 in the eyes of the learned ; but those which are daily met with in the fields 

 and in our walks, are the ones our interests demand us to know : the former 

 do neither harm nor good; but a familiar acquaintance with the forms and 

 habits of the common and widely spread, is an indispensable preliminary 

 towards enabling the husbandman to take advantage of the services they 

 may be made to render him, or to protect his premises and the fruits of his 

 labor from the depredations of noxious broods. This view has mainly con- 

 trolled our undertaking : as the work is designed for those who are supposed 

 to be mere beginners in entomology, and perhaps intend to prosecute the 

 study no farther than practical results will warrant, it was thought fit to 

 restrict the field of investigation to such insects as are sufficiently numerous 

 to interfere in some way with the prosperity or comforts of the dwellers in 

 this northern portion of our country. 



One part of my labor has been to collect materials in the field, and an- 

 other to collect them from the researches of others, the latter item con- 

 stituting doubtlessly the largest and most valuable portion of the entire 

 work ; but it is confidently believed that naturalists and authors who have 

 contributed largely to the common stock of entomological knowledge, and 

 thereby earned and received a high and enduring reputation, will not be 

 disposed to object to the diffusion of information fraught with such great 

 consequence to the welfare of community'. These distinguished investigators 

 are honored by their discoveries ; but their discoveries require to be made 

 known to all the world, to the end that their results may redound to the 

 common good of the human family. 



