260 THE BUTTERFLY VIVARIUM. 



genera, consisting principally of a pretty class of 

 Plies, which in their colour and markings closely 

 resemble Bees and Wasps, from which they may be 

 at once distinguished by their single pair of wings. 

 They arc also distinguished from Diptera by several 

 tolerably well-marked characters, among which that 

 of the sometimes brightly coloured larvae, which, 

 like those of the Lady-bird, feed upon Aphides, 

 may be noted as the principal ; but the short and 

 robust form of the body and other peculiarities are 

 amply sufficient to distinguish them. 



This brief sketch of the entomological orders 

 will enable the student to form a pretty accurate 

 idea of the great outline of the method of classifi- 

 cation that has been generally adopted ; but should 

 he wish to go more thoroughly into the subject, let 

 him get some complete technical work on the sub- 

 ject — Mr. Westwood's two excellent volumes, for 

 instance, on the " Modern Classification of In- 

 sects," which, as the first serious step, is the best 

 I know of. 



