4 MISC. PUBLICATION 318, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



A scientific name, in addition to helping to classify an insect or 

 show its relationship to other insects, aids in designating more clearly 

 the particular insect referred to. There are several insects that have 

 the same common name. For instance, potato beetle is a name which 

 may refer to the Colorado potato beetle, the black blister beetle (old- 

 fashioned potato bug), or the tiny flea beetle; but if we say Leptino- 

 tarsa decemlineata, it doesn't matter whether we are in the United 

 States, England, or China, the entomologist knows the beetle to which 

 we refer. Let us analyze Leptinotarsa decemlineata and see what 

 the words mean : 



Leptinotarsa: From leptos, meaning thin, and tarsos or tarsus, 



meaning part of insect leg. 

 decemlineata: From deca, meaning 10, and linea, meaning line. 

 Thus we have Leptinotarsa decemlineata, an insect with small 

 tarsus and 10 lines on its back. The technical name of an insect 

 often refers to some part of the insect, or to the plant or animal 

 on which the insect feeds. 

 Insects may have different common names. Take the corn earworm, 

 for instance. In places where tomatoes are grown extensively, this 

 worm is called the tomato fruitworm; in the cotton sections it is 

 called the cotton boll worm, and in corn-growing sections it is referred 

 to as the corn earworm. But if we say Heliothis obsoleta, the ento- 

 mologist anywhere will know the insect we mean. 



No doubt many boys and girls will want to refer to the scientific 

 names of some insects. For this reason, in the discussion accompany- 

 ing the pictures, on pages 13 to 40, are mentioned the common name, 

 and the names for the order, genus, and species of several of our 

 common insects. It must be remembered that in referring to the 

 scientific name, only the names for genus and species are given. 



COLLECTION AND IDENTIFICATION 



It is hoped that club members will make an insect collection, 

 and that after a few years each member will have representative 

 specimens of the more important orders of insects and note sheets 

 giving a complete description of each. Beginners should endeavor 

 to have by the end of the first year insects representative of the 

 following eight orders : 



ORTHOPTERA.— Orthos (straight), pteron (a 

 wing). Four wings, when present; front wings 

 leathery, straight; hind wings folding fanlike 

 under them. Chewing mouth parts. Antennae 

 and legs usually- long. Life changes (meta- 

 morphosis) incomplete. Grasshoppers, crickets, 

 Figure 2. — Grasshopper. katydids, roaches, wa]king sticks. 



HEMIPTERA.— Hemi (half), pteron (a wing). Four wings, when 

 present ; front wings leathery at base, forming an X on back when 

 wings are folded. Piercing and sucking mouth parts folding under 

 body. Life changes incomplete. Odor sometimes sickening. Stink- 

 bugs, squash bugs, plant bugs, chinch bugs, and bedbugs. 



Figure 3.— 

 True bug. 



