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INSECTA. 
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Although this order was more natural than that of Linnseus, it has not been followed ; 
and it is only recently that anatomical observations, and a more rigorous exactitude of 
the applications thence derived, have led us to the natural system.* 
I divide this class into twelve orders, of which the first three, composed of species 
destitute of wings, do not essentially change their forms and habits, and are merely 
subject either to simple moulting or to a rudimental metamorphosis, whereby the number 
of feet and of the segments of the body are increased. These correspond with the 
Arachnides antennistes of Lamarck. The organs of sight, in these animals, ordinarily 
consist of an assemblage of simple eyes, of greater or less extent. The following orders 
compose the class of Insects of the same naturalist. From its natural relations, the 
order Suctoria, which only consists of the genus Pulex [or Flea], appears to terminate 
the class ; but as I place at its head the insects which have no wings, this order, 
keeping up the regularity of the system, ought to succeed immediately after that of 
the Parasita. 
Some of the English naturalists have established, from the consideration of the wings, 
several new orders ; but I do not see the necessity for their admission, with the excep- 
tion of that of the Strepsiptera, of which the denomination {twisted wings) appears to 
me to be defective, such not being the case, and which I consequently term Rhipiptera, 
or fan-shaped wingsf 
The first order, Myriapoda, has more than six legs (twenty-four, and beyond), 
arranged along the whole length of the body, upon a series of rings, each of which bears 
one or two pairs, and of which the first, and also the second in many species, appears 
to form part of the mouth. They are apterous, — that is, deprived of wings and 
scutellum. 
The second order, Thysanura, has six feet, and the abdomen furnished, at the sides, 
with moveable pieces, in the form of false legs, or terminated by appendages fitted for 
leaping. 
The third order, Parasita, has six legs ; is destitute of wings ; exhibits no organs of 
sight, except ocelli; the mouth is for the most part interior, and only consists of a muzzle 
inclosing a retractile sucker, or of a slit situated between two lips, with two hooked 
mandibles. 
The fourth order, Suctoria, has six legs ; is destitute of wings ; and the mouth is 
composed of a sucker, inclosed in a cylindrical sheath of two articulated pieces. They 
undergo metamorphosis, and acquire thereby locomotive organs which they did not at 
first possess. This character is common to the following orders ; but, in them, wings 
are always developed by metamorphosis. 
The fifth order, Coleoptera, has six legs ; four wings, the superior pair having the 
form of sheaths ; mandibles and maxillae for mastication ; the lower wings folded simply 
crosswise, and the sheaths crustaceous, and always horizontal. They undergo a com- 
plete metamorphosis. 
The sixth order, Orthoptera, has six legs ; four wings, of which the two upper are 
in the form of sheaths ; mandibles and maxillae for mastication, the latter covered at 
» Cuvier, TahL Elem. de I’Hist. Nat. des Anim., and Leqons d’Anat. 
Comparce ; Lamarck, Systhne dcs Anim. sans Eertibres ; Latreille, 
Pricis des Caract. Gen., and Genera Crustaceorum et Insectorum. See 
also, for further details, the excellent Introduction to Entomology 
by Messrs. Kirby and Spence. [The Horce Entomologicce of M'Leay, 
the Handbuc.h der Entomologie by Hermann Burmeister, translated 
by Shuckard, and my Introduction to the Modern Classification of In- 
sects, may also be alluded to, as offering many details relative to the 
natural arrangement of this class]. 
t [It is true that the wings are not twisted, but the pribalanciers, 
as Latreille terms them, are ; and, as it is now proved that these organs 
are mesothoracic organs, the propriety of Mr. Kirby’s name is esta- 
blished.] 
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