5952 



Northern Entomological Society, 



" It is obvious that carnivorous animals, those which prey upon others belonging to 

 the same order as themselves, will possess the highest development ; their muscular 

 powers in proportion to their size, their strength of bone and of jaws, and their agility, 

 are all necessarily greater than those of animals which they have to subdue and subsist 

 upon. The predaceous tribes, then, in each class and order, whenever such exist, 

 should be placed at the head. Thus in the Mammalia, the lion, the tiger, the 

 leopard, &c. ; in the Birds, the eagles and falcons, will claim the highest rank; and, 

 indeed, such is the position, or nearly so, commonly assigned to them. 



" Well, then, having suggested the mode of beginning, which is as much as can 

 conveniently be done in a paper of this kind, let us proceed to examine the adopted 

 arrangements of the orders of Insects inhabiting Britain. 



" Coleoptera. In the order Coleoptera, our English authors are agreed in com- 

 mencing with the Geodephaga, and in placing at the head of this tribe the family 

 Cicindelidae ; predaceous beetles, diurnal, with strong jaws, and gifted with superior 

 powers for flying and running. The manner in which the arrangement of this order is 

 carried out is in tolerable accordance with our plan ; the principal deviation from it 

 being, in the position assigned to the Staphylinidae by Stephens. 



" Lepidopiera. The order Lepidoptera contains no truly predaceous insects ; but 

 there is no difference in opinion, in assigning the first rank to the Bhopalocera, at the 

 head of which stand, undoubtedly in their true position, the Papiliones. The other 

 groups follow one another in natural order from the highest to the lowest, the positiou 

 of the Pyrales being perhaps the most in dispute. 



" It appears, then, as if the plan here advocated was the identical plan on which is 

 based the arrangement of the above two orders of insects. Let us, however, examine 

 the remaining orders, and we shall see a variance, unaccountable, perhaps, unless on 

 the supposition that attempts have been made to connect the head of one order with 

 the tail of another; thus destroying the harmony which might otherwise subsist in the 

 arrangement of the component parts of each, and the relative position which these 

 parts or subdivisions might hold, compared with those in the vertebrate animals. 

 Proceeding to the order 



" Hymenoptera. Stephens, in his ' Catalogue,' commences with the Tenthredinidae 

 and ends with the Cynipidae ; Curtis in his ' Guide,' Westwood in his ' Modern Clas- 

 sification,' and the British Museum Catalogue, each commence with the Tenthredi- 

 nidae and end with the Apidae ; the species of this family which is placed last being 

 the hive-bee. Surely an insect which has commanded the admiration of naturalists 

 in all ages, for its wonderful instinct and economy, and its utility to man in furnishing 

 him with wax and honey, should deserve a higher position than the very bottom 

 of such an extensive order as the Hymenoptera. But we may suppose here that an 

 attempt has been made to reduce to practice the circular system of McLeay, and that 

 the circumference of the circle has been cut between the Apidae and Tenthredinidae, 

 so as to allow it to fall into a straight line ; but if this be the case, is not any entomo- 

 logist at liberty, for the purpose of arranging his collection, to cut the circle at any 

 part of the circumference that he pleases."* And might not a better starting point be 

 found with the Vespidae or Formicidae than with the Tenthredinidas, which are harm- 

 less to other insects ? 



Diptera. Mr. Walker, in the 'Insecta Britannica,' begins with the Pulicidae and 

 ends with the Nycteribidae. This looks something like another attempt at the circular 

 system. Of the family Asilidae, he says, "These flies are all carnivorous, and are the 



