14 
INTRODUCTION. 
21. Rhynchota, Homoptera, 
22. Phytophthires. 
23. Anopleura. 
24. Thysanoptera. 
It is, however, impossible to express accurately the relationship 
of insects by adopting any one sub-division of equal value throughout, 
and the student may be warned against getting to attach too much 
importance to any classification systems except as working conven¬ 
tions which have as much regard to truth as circumstances will allow. 
What systems of classification we adopt is, in the present state of 
confusion, immaterial; the Fauna covers only parts of four orders and 
we can there adopt the system in use ; beyond that we must unfortu¬ 
nately anticipate the “ Fauna.” The system adopted is the following; 
it is as near to Sharp’s insects as possible, and we have contrasted it 
with the system in use in America as a guide to the student who wishes 
to refer also to American literature. We may remark that classification 
is not an end in itself but is the means to an end ; with so vast and com¬ 
plex a subject, it is imperative that we should be able to classify, to fix 
the position of an insect with regard to its fellows, simply for ease of 
working. Our main object being the observation of living insects as 
they affect man, classificaton in this case becomes necessary to enable 
us to record and collate our observations ; for this reason we aim at a 
simple system, on which we can arrange our collections, file our notes 
and, by working with one system, follow each other’s work at once with¬ 
out having to readjust our ideas or bother more than is necessary with 
the way our things are arranged. The insects in one collection are 
arranged exactly as they are in another ; a worker from a distance can 
take up work in Pusa without mastering a fresh system, and whether 
our classification be correct or not, it is, and must be, the standard and 
will be, we hope, with small modifications, the standard in India for 
many years. 
Number of Species. —Blanford in 1881 published a numerical 
enumeration of the known Fauna of India (J. A. S. B., p. 263). He in¬ 
cludes Beluchistan, Kashmir, the Himalayas, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, 
Assam, British Burma ? Tennasserim, Ceylon, Andamans, Nicobars, 
