42 



Insects and Disease 



to realize the really important part that insects 

 play in relation to the health of the people with 

 whom they are associated. Dr. Howard estimates 

 that the annual death rate in the United States 

 from malaria is about twelve thousand, entailing 

 an annual monetary loss of about $100,000,000, to 

 say nothing of the suffering and misery endured by 

 the afflicted. All this on account of two or three 

 species of insects belonging to the mosquito genus 

 Anopheles. 



Yellow fever, while not so wide-spread, is more 

 fatal and therefore more terrorizing. Its presence 

 and spread are due entirely to a single species of 

 mosquito. Flies, fleas, bedbugs, and many other 

 insects have been shown to be intimately connected 

 with the spread of several other most dreaded 

 diseases, so it is no wonder that physicians, ento- 

 mologists and biologists are studying with utmost 

 zeal many of these forms that bear such a close 

 relation not only to our welfare and comfort but 

 to our lives as well. 



It would be out of place to try to give here even a 

 brief outline of the classification of insects, such as 

 may be found in almost any of the many books 

 devoted to their study. 



The most generally accepted classification di- 

 vides the insects into nineteen orders; as the 



