8 
is forming, and out of which it will presently split open 
its way. 
It is in the first stage of insect-life that the real 
difficulty occurs of knowing what we have under exami¬ 
nation, and this is well worth the trouble of mastering. 
There are thirteen orders of insects. Of these we need 
not trouble ourselves about the Fleas (Apha)iiptera), nor 
the Bee-parasites (Strepsvptera), which are parasitic in 
their larval state in Bees and Wasps ; nor with the 
Caddice Flies (Triclwptera), of which the larvae usually 
live in cases formed of morsels of sticks, or shells, or 
anything attainable in the water. Of the remaining ten 
orders, there are five in which the larval state very much 
resembles that of the perfect insect; it is regularly 
insect-shaped, with three pairs of legs, but is without 
wings. These five orders contain the Earwigs {Euplex- 
optera), the Crickets, Locusts, Cockroaches, &c. {Ortliop- 
tera), the Thrips {Thysanoptera), and the two orders 
formerly classed together, of which one contains the 
Aphides, the Scale insects, and Cicadas, &c. {Homoptera), 
and the other the Plant Bugs {TIemiptera). For the 
most part the larval or first stage of these insects is so 
like the pupal or second,- and the complete state, that 
there is no difficulty in knowing them, an Earwig, an 
Aphis, or a Cricket differs little excepting in size and 
presence, or absence, of wings throughout its life. And 
so it is with many others, and this reduces the orders we 
need especially to consider to five. Of these four are 
very important. These are the orders which include the 
Two-winged Flies {Diptera), the Beetles (Coleoptera), the 
Moths and Butterflies (Lepidopitera), and the Sawflies, 
Gallflies, Wasps, Bees, and some others which, though 
not all similar in the larval state, are classed in the order 
Hymenoptera, from the wings of the insects in the perfect 
state being “ membrane-like.” The larvae of these four 
orders are for the most part distinguishable by the 
presence, or the absence, or the number and nature of 
their feet considered together with the nature of the head 
and jaws. 
