18 
INTRODUCTION. 
every class of animals is most indisputably attended with peculiar ad- 
vantages': yet I will venture to affirm, that it is from a knowledge of 
the characters and metamorphoses of these little animals, and the va- 
rious modes of life which they are destined to pursue, that he will ob- 
tain a more intimate acquaintance with the great laws of nature, and 
veneration for the Great Creator of all, than can be derived from the 
contemplation of any other class in nature. The beauty ot insects 
in general, renders them engaging to many who have neither time nor 
inclination for studying their more complicated structure; and the 
gaiety of their colours, often combined with the most graceful forms, 
displays a beauty, splendour and vivacity, greater than that bestowed 
by the hand of Nature on any of her other works. One defect in ap- 
pearance must indeed he conceded ; and this may be regarded, in 
point of beauty, a material deficiency indeed, — they are not always so 
considerable in magnitude as to become, even with these embellish- 
ments, strikingly attractive. Were they equal in size to the smallest 
birds, their elegance would render them more inviting to the eyes ot 
mankind in general; but, even amongst the minor species, when ex- 
amined with a microscope, wc find their beauty and elegance iar supe- 
rior to that of any other class of animals in the creation. “ After a mi- 
nute and attentive examination,” says Swammerdam, “ of the nature 
and structure of the smaller as well as the larger animals, I cannot but 
allow an equal, if not superior, degree of dignity to the former. If, 
whilst we dissect with care the larger animals, we are filled with wonder 
at the elegant disposition of parts, to what a height is our astonishment 
raised w hen we discover their parts arranged in the least in the same 
regular manner 1” 
Insects may be divided into two kinds; those which are immediately 
or remotely beneficial or injurious to mankind. Many insects in- 
deed seem not to affect us in any manner; others, and by far the 
greater number, most assuredly fall tinder one or the other denomi- 
nation, and on this account demand our most serious attention. But, 
lest the alleged utility of some insects should seem hypothetical 
to the superficial observer, whilst the noxious effects of others are 
too obvious to admit of doubt, I shall be more explicit upon this 
subject. The depredations of insects upon vegetable bodies are often 
detrimental; but it must be remembered, that in these ravages they 
often repay the injury they commit. Locusts, the most destructive 
of all insects, whose numbers spread desolation through the vegetable 
world, are not (except on some occasions when 'heir multiplication ex- 
ceeds all bounds) unproductive of advantage. Although they deprive 
mankind of a certain portion of vegetable food, yet, in return, their 
bodies afford nutriment of a wholesome and palatable kind, and in 
much greater abundance. The various species of locusts are the Com- 
pton food on which the inhabitants of several parts of the world sub- 
