ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



By Benjamin Cooke. 



Some of the ideas in this paper were produced at a meeting of the 

 Northern Entomological Society, held on the 26th December, 1857. 

 My views are now somewhat modified as to the details of an arrange- 

 ment of the class Iiiseda, but I still adhere to the principle of 

 classification which was advocated in that paper — a principle which 

 was not new, but has been acted upon in the arrangement of more 

 than one order of insects. 



Mr. Dallas, in his " Elements of Entomology," after stating his 

 reasons for the adoption of the Cibarian system of classification, in his 

 work says (p. 58) — But, for my own part, I must confess that I 

 think the adoption of the metamorphoses as the foundation of the 

 arrangement of insects leads to a more philosophical result." Coin- 

 ciding with Mr. Dallas in this view, my object is to carry out this 

 system, and to endeavour to show that the orders of insects follow one 

 another in a more natural and regular course than in the system of 

 classification which is founded on the structure of the mouth. 



The principle of classification which will be here advocated is this : 

 to begin with the highest development, and proceed in regular 

 gradation to the lowest ; care being taken in the details to associate 

 together those which have a close affinity throughout the various 

 stages of their existence. This principle seems to me to be applicable 

 to all classes of animated beings. It is not new, as I stated before ; 

 and, whether accepted or not, it is manifest that unless some principle 

 be adopted, classification will always be in confusion. 



It is obvious that carnivorous animals 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 subsist upon. The 

 predaceous tribes, then, whenever such exist, should be placed at the 

 head of each order : thus, in the mammals, the lion, the tiger, the 

 leopard, &c. ; in the bird«, the eagles and falcons still claim the highest 

 rank. There are exceptions to this rule in the case of insects which 

 are only partly predaceous, and of inferior structure ; these will have 

 to be arranged along with the nearest allies. 



In order to show the necessity for some guiding principle in the 



arrangement of insects, I give, in a tabular form, the systems proposed 



by those British authors who have published their views in a separate 

 N.S,, Vol, viii., Dec, 1882. 



