34 LETTERS ON ENT03IOLOGY. 
as have strong horny sheaths {elytra) or covers 
to their wings, which are curiously folded un- 
derneath. Hemiptera consists of half- winged in- 
sects, which have wing-sheaths of a tough and 
strong substance at the upper part, and soft or 
membranaceous at the lower, and the real or 
under wings are often of great size, and plaited 
longitudinally, in the manner of a fan. This 
order contains all the insects of the locust and 
grasshopper tribe ; the cockroaches, the lantern- 
flies, the Cicada?, and many others. The common 
earwig is an example of it. Lepidoptera, the 
most splendid and cpnspicuous of all orders, 
consists of the scaly- winged insects ; butterflies 
and moths belong to this order, being covered, 
not with feathers, as it was supposed, but small 
leathery or hairy scales. Neuroptera consists of 
such as have four large wings, furnished with 
very conspicuous nerves, fibres, or ramifications 
dispersed over the wing. This order is ex- 
emplified in dragon-flies, May-flies, and others. 
The celebrated ephemera also belongs to it. 
Hymenoptera consists of insects with four mem- 
branaceous wings, but not remarkably fibrous 
like the former. It contains all the wasp and 
bee tribe ; the ichneumons and a variety of 
others. Diplera consists of two-winged insects, 
