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Seven orders of insects were originally recognized by Linnæus, namely, Neuroptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Aptera. This classification was based on the organs of flight only, and while in the main resulting in natural divisions which still furnish the basis of more modern classifications, was faulty in several particulars. For instance, the Aptera, which included all wingless insects, was soon found to be a very unnatural assemblage and its components were distributed among the other orders. The establishment of the order Orthoptera by Olivier to include a large and well-defined group of insects associated with the Hemiptera by Linnæus, restored the original seven orders, and this classification has, in the main, been followed by entomologists up to the present time.

Fig. 1.—Pyramid showing the nature of the mouth, and relative rank of the Orders, and the affinities of the Suborders of Insects.

All insects are, in a broad way, referable to one or the other of these seven primary orders by the structure of the wings and the character of the mouth-parts in the imago, and by the nature of their transformations.

Some of these orders are connected by aberrant and osculant families or groups, which have by other authors been variously ranked as independent orders, but which, following Westwood substantially, I have considered, for convenience, as suborders. (See Fifth Report, Insects of Missouri, etc., 1872.)

In the article just cited, I made use of the accompanying diagram in the form of a pyramid (Fig. 1), which gives a graphic representation of the distinguishing characters and the relative rank as usually accepted, of the orders and suborders.

Full discussion of the different classifications is unnecessary in this connection. Authors have differed in the past and will differ in the future as to what constitutes a natural system, and it would require many pages to give even a brief survey of the various schemes that have been proposed. As I have elsewhere said, “We must remember that classifications are but a means to an end—appliances to facilitate our thought and study—and that, to use Spencer's words, ‘we cannot, by any logical dichotomies, actually express relations which in nature graduate into each other insensibly.’ ”

The most philosophical, perhaps, of the more modern systems of classification is that of Friedrich Brauer, who has carefully studied the subject, and has given us an arrangement consisting of sixteen orders. This has many merits and has been adopted, with slight modifications, by Packard in his “Entomology for Beginners,” and by Hyatt and Arms in their recent and valuable text-book “Insecta.” Comstock, in his “Introduction to Entomology” strongly recommends Brauer's classification, but for reasons of simplicity and convenience adheres to a modification of the old classification of Westwood.

For purposes of comparison the classification by Hyatt and Arms, which is substantially that of Brauer, may be introduced.

In linear arrangement it is as follows:

I.	Thysanura (Spring-tails, etc.).
II.	Ephemeroptera (Ephemeridæ; May-flies). (=Plecoptera Pack.)
III.	Odonata (Libellulidæ; Dragon-flies).
IV.	Plecoptera (Perlidæ; Stone-flies).
V.	Platyptera (Termites, Mallophaga, etc.).
VI.	Dermaptera (Forficulidæ; Earwigs).
VII.	Orthoptera (Locusts, Grasshoppers, etc.).
VIII.	Thysanoptera (Thripidæ; Fringe-wings).
IX.	Hemiptera (Bugs).
X.	Coleoptera (Beetles).
XI.	Neuroptera (Sialidæ, Hemerobiidæ; Lace-wings, etc.).
XII.	Mecoptera (Panorpidæ; Scorpion-flies).
XIII.	Trichoptera (Phryganeidæ; Caddis-flies).
XIV.	Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths).
XV.	Hymenoptera (Bees, Wasps, etc.).
XV.	Diptera (Two-winged flies).

The relationship of these orders cannot be indicated in a linear arrangement, and is admirably shown by Hyatt and Arms by means of diagrams which I reproduce (Figs. 2, 3.)

Fig. 2.—Scheme illustrating origin and relationship of Orders. (After Hyatt.)

The relation of these sixteen orders to the older, septenary scheme is shown by the following arrangement:

1. Hymenoptera		Hymenoptera XV.
2. Coleoptera		Coleoptera X.
3. Lepidoptera		Lepidoptera XIV.
				Homoptera.
4. Hemiptera		Hemiptera IX.		Heteroptera.
	Thysanoptera VIII.
5. Diptera		Diptera XVI.		Including Aphaniptera or Siphonaptera of some authors.
6. Orthoptera		Orthoptera VII.
	Dermaptera VI.
7. Neuroptera		Trichoptera XIII		Neuroptera.
	Mecoptera XII
	Neuroptera XI
	Platyptera V		Pseudo-neuroptera.
	Plecoptera IV
	Odonata III
	Ephemeroptera II
	Thysanura I

Fig. 3.—Cross section of Fig. 2.

It will be seen that the changes are not so great as would at first appear. The three more important orders, namely, the Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera, remain substantially the same in all classifications, and so with the three orders next in importance—the Hemiptera, Diptera, and Orthoptera. All that has been done with these three has been to rank as separate orders what by former authors were preferably considered as either families or suborders. The principal change is in the Neuroptera, of which no less than eight orders have been made. This is not to be wondered at, because the order, as formerly construed, was conceded to be that which represents the lowest forms and more synthetic types of insects, and as such necessarily contained forms which it is difficult to classify definitely.

In the discussion of the characteristics, habits, number of species, and importance of the several groups, I follow, with such changes as the advances in the science of entomology have made necessary, the arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

“Order HYMENOPTERA υμην, a membrane; πτερον, wing). Clear or Membrane-winged Flies: Bees, Wasps, Ants, Saw-flies, etc. Characterized by having four membranous wings with comparatively few veins, the hind part smallest. The transformations are complete: i.e., the larva bears no resemblance to the perfect insect.

Fig. 4.—Bold-faced Hornet,

Vespa maculata. (After Sanborn).

“Some of the insects of this order are highly specialized, and their mouth-parts are fitted both for biting and sucking, and in this respect they connect the mandibulate and haustellate insects. The common Honey-bee has this complex structure of the mouth, and if the editors of our agricultural papers would bear the fact in mind, we should have less of the never-ending discussion as to whether bees are capable of injuring fruit at first hand. The lower lip (labium) is modified into a long tongue, sheathed by the lower jaws (maxillæ), and they can sip, or, more properly speaking, lap up nectar; while the upper jaws (mandibulæ), though not generally used for purposes of manducation, are fitted for biting and cutting. The Hymenoptera are terrestrial, there existing only a very few degraded, swimming forms.

“This order is very naturally divided into two sections—the Aculeata and Terebrantia. The aculeate Hymenoptera, or Stingers, comprise all the families in which the abdomen in the female is armed with a sting connected with a poison reservoir, and may be considered the typical form of the order, including all the social and fossorial species.

Fig. 5.—An Ichneumon Parasite, Pimpla annulipes, showing male and female abdomen.

Fig. 6.—A Chalcid Parasite, Chalcis flavipes.

The insects of this section must be considered essentially beneficial to man, notwithstanding the occasional sting of a bee or wasp, the boring of a carpenter bee, or the importunities of the omnipresent ant. Not only do they furnish us with honey and wax, but they play so important a part in the destruction of insects injurious to vegetation that they may be looked upon as God-appointed guards over the vegetal kingdom—carrying the pollen from plant to plant, and insuring the fertilization of diœcious species, and the cross-fertilization of others; and being ever ready to clear them of herbivorous worms which gnaw and destroy. The whole section is well characterized by the uniformly maggot-like nature of the larva. The transformations are complete, but the chitinous larval covering is often so very thin and delicate that the budding of the members, or gradual growth of the pupa underneath, is quite plainly visible, and the skin often peels off in delicate flakes, so that the transition from larva to pupa is not so marked and sudden as in those insects which have thicker skins.

Fig. 7.—A Horn-tail, Tremex columba. a, larva, showing Thalessa larva attached to its side; b, head of larva, front view, enlarged; c, female pupa, ventral view; d, male pupa, ventral view; e, adult female—all slightly enlarged.

Fig. 8.—Saw-fly and Larva. Pristiphora grossulariæ; a, larva; b, imago, Walsh.

“The terebrantine Hymenoptera, or Piercers, are again divisible into two subsections: first, the Entomophaga, which are, likewise, with the exception of a few gall-makers, beneficial to man, and include the parasitic families, and the gall-flies; second, the Phytophaga, comprising the Horn-tails (Uroceridæ), and the Saw-flies (Tenthredinidæ), all of which are vegetable feeders in the larval state, those of the first family boring into trees, and those of the second either feeding externally on leaves or inclosed in galls. They are at once distinguished from the other Hymenoptera by the larvæ having true legs, which, however, in the case of the Horn-tails, are very small and exarticulate. The larvæ of many Saw-flies have, besides, prolegs, which are, however, always distinguishable from those of Lepidopterous larvæ by being more numerous and by having no hooks.

Fig. 9.—A Chafer,

Cotalpa lanigera. (After Packard.)

“Order COLEOPTERA (κολεος, a sheath; πτερον, wing). Beetles or Shield-winged Insects. Characterized by having four wings, the front pair (called elytra) horny or leathery, and usually united down the back with a straight suture when at rest, the hind ones membranous and folded up under the elytra when at rest. Transformations complete.

Fig. 10.—A Longicorn, Saperda candida. a, larva; b, pupa; c, beetle.

Fig. 11.—The Plum Curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar. a, larva; b, pupa; c, beetle; d, plum showing egg-puncture and crescent.

Fig. 12.—A Soldier-beetle, Chauliognathus pennsylvanicus. a, larva; b–h, parts of larva enlarged; i, beetle.

“This is an order of great importance, and in the vast number and diversity of the species comprised in it outranks any of the others. The ease with which the insects of this order are obtained and preserved make it one of the most attractive to the amateur, and beetles are, perhaps, of all insects, the best known and understood in the popular mind. For the same reason they have, in the perfect state, received most attention from the entomologists, but their transformations and preparatory forms yet offer a wide and inviting field for the student. The simplest and best-known classification of the beetles is the tarsal system, founded on the number of joints to the tarsi, by which we get four great sections: (1) Pentamera, in which all the tarsi are 5-jointed; (2) Heteromera, with the four anterior 5-jointed and the two posterior 4-jointed; (3) Pseudo-tetramera, with apparently only four joints to all the tarsi, though, in reality, there is a fifth penultimate joint, diminutive and concealed; (4) Pseudo-trimera, with apparently only three joints to all the tarsi. This system, like most others, is not perfect, as there are numerous species not possessing five joints to the tarsi belonging to the first section; and for practical purposes beetles may be very well arranged according to habit. We thus get, first, the Adephaga, or carnivorous species, including all those which prey on other living insects, and to which, following Mr. Walsh, I have, for obvious reasons, applied the suggestive term ‘Cannibal’; second, the Necrophaga, comprising those which feed on carrion, dung, fungi, and decaying vegetation; third, the Phytophaga, embracing all those feeding on living vegetation. This arrangement is by no means perfect, for there are beetles which are carnivorous in the larva and herbivorous in the imago state; while some of the Necrophaga are actually parasitic. Yet, it is not more artificial than others which have been proposed. The carnivorous species, broadly speaking, are Pentamerous, the only striking exception being the Coccinellidæ (Lady-birds), which are Pseudo-trimerous. The carrion-feeders are also Pentamerous; but vegetable-feeders are found in all the tarsal divisions, though the Pseudo-tetramera are the more essentially herbivorous, and consequently the most injurious.”

Fig. 13.—The Bogus Potato-beetle, Doryphora juncta. a, eggs; b, larvæ; c, beetle; d and e, parts of beetle enlarged.

“Order LEPIDOPTERA (λεπις, a scale; πτερον, wing). Butterflies and Moths, or scaly-winged insects. Characterized by having four branching-veined membranous wings, each more or less densely covered on both sides with minute imbricated scales which are attached by a stalk, but which easily rub off, and appear to the unaided eye like minute particles of glistening dust or powder. Transformations complete.

Fig. 14.—A Butterfly,

Pieris oleracea.

Fig. 15.—A Sphingid,

Ampelophaga myron.

“Next to the Lepidoptera, the Coleoptera are, perhaps, most familiar to the popular mind. Every one admires the beauty of these frail creatures, dressed in every conceivable pattern, and adorned with every conceivable color, so as to rival the delicate hues of the rainbow, and eclipse the most fantastic and elaborate designs of man. When magnified, the scales, to which this beauty of pattern and color is entirely due, present all manner of shapes, according to the particular species or the particular part of the individual from which they are taken. According to Lewenhoeck, there are 400,000 of these scales on the wing of the common silkworm.

“The transformations of these insects are complete, and the changes are usually so sudden and striking as to have excited the wonder and admiration of observers from earliest times.

Fig. 16.—A Moth,

Utetheisa bella.

“The more common form of the larva is exampled in the ordinary caterpillar—a cylindrical worm with a head, twelve joints and a sub-joint; six thoracic or true legs, four abdominal and two anal prolegs. But there is a great variety of these larvæ, some having no legs whatever, some having only the jointed legs, and others having either four, six, eight, or ten, but never more than ten prolegs. With few exceptions they are all vegetable-feeders, and with still fewer exceptions, terrestrial. The perfect insects make free use of their ample wings, but walk little; and their legs are weak, and not modified in the various ways so noticeable in other orders, while the front pair in some butterflies are impotent.

“As an order this must be considered the most injurious of the seven.

Fig. 17.—A Clothes-moth (Tinea pellionella)—enlarged. a, adult; b, larva; c, larva in case.

“A convenient system of classification for the Lepidoptera is based on the structure of the antennæ. By it we get two great sections: 1st, Butterflies (Rhopalocera); 2d, Moths (Heterocera), which latter may again be divided into Crepuscular and Nocturnal Moths. Butterflies are at once distinguished from moths by their antennæ being straight, stiff and knobbed, and by being day-fliers or diurnal; while moths have the antennæ tapering to a point, and are, for the most part, night-flyers or nocturnal. The crepuscular moths, composed mostly of the Sphinges or Hawk-moths, hover over flowers at eve, and connect the two sections not only in habit, but in the character of the antennæ which first thicken toward the end, and then suddenly terminate in a point or hook.

Fig. 18.—A Plant-bug

(Euschistus punctipes).

“Order HEMIPTERA (ἡμι, half; πτερον, wing), Bugs. The insects of this order are naturally separated into two great sections; 1st, Half-winged Bugs, or Heteroptera (ἑτερος, different; πτερον, wing) having the basal half of the front wings (called hemelytra) coriaceous or leathery, while the apical part is membranous. The wings cross flatly over the back when at rest; 2d, Whole-winged Bugs, or Homoptera (ὁμος, equal; πτερον, wing), having all four wings of a uniform membranous nature and folding straight down the back when at rest. The latter, if separated, may be looked upon as a Suborder.

Fig. 19.—A Soldier-bug

(Milyas cinctus). b, beak enlarged.

“Transformations incomplete; i.e., the larvæ and pupæ have more or less the image of the perfect insect, and differ little from it except in lacking wings.

“The genuine or half-winged Bugs (Figs. 18 and 19) are usually flattened in form, when mature; though more rounded in the adolescent stages. They may be divided into Land Bugs (Aurocorisa) and Water Bugs (Hydrocorisa). The species of the first division very generally possess the power of emitting, when disturbed or alarmed, a nauseous, bed-buggy odor, which comes from a fluid secreted from two pores, situated on the under side of the metathorax. Such well-known insects as the Bed-bug and Chinch-bug belong here. The habits of the species are varied, and while some are beneficial, others are quite injurious to man.

Fig. 20.—A Tree-hopper

(Ceresa bubalus). a, side; b, top view.

“The Whole-winged Bugs (Figs. 20 and 21), on the contrary, are all plant-feeders, and with the exception of a few, such as the Cochineal and Lac insects, are injurious. The secretion of a white, or bluish, waxy, or farinose substance from the surface of the body is as characteristic of this section as the nauseous odor is of the first. It forms three natural divisions, arranged according to the number of joints to the tarsi—namely Trimera, with three joints; Dimera, with two joints;, and Monomera, with one joint to the tarsi.”

Fig. 21.—A Plant-louse (Schizoneura lanigera). a, infested root; b, larva; c, winged insect; d–g, parts of perfect insect enlarged.

Suborder Thysanoptera (ϑυσανος, a fringe; πτερον, wing): This suborder contains the single family Thripidæ, which comprises minute insects commonly known as Thrips, and of which a common species, Thrips striatus, is shown in the accompanying figure. (See Fig. 22.) They bear strong relations to both the Pseudoneuroptera and the Hemiptera and by later writers are generally associated with the latter order. They feed on plants, puncturing and killing the leaves, or on other plant-feeding species of their own class, and are characterized by having narrow wings crossed on the back when at rest, and beautifully fringed, from which latter feature the name of the suborder is derived.

Fig. 22.—Thrips striatus, with wings enlarged at side.

The mouth parts are peculiar in that they are intermediate in form between the sucking beak of Hemiptera and the biting mouth parts of other insects.

Their eggs resemble those of Hemiptera; the larvæ and pupæ are active, and in form resemble the adult, except in the absence of wings. Some species, also, are wingless in the adult stage.

The pupæ are somewhat sluggish and the limbs and wings are enclosed in a thin membrane which is expanded about the feet into bulbous enlargements, giving rise to the name “bladder-footed” (Physopoda) applied to these insects by Burmeister.

Fig. 23.—A Mosquito (Culex pipiens). a, adult; b, head of same enlarged; e, portion of antenna of same; f, larva; g, pupa. (After Westwood.)

“Order DIPTERA (δις, twice; πτερον, wing) or Two-winged Flies. The only order having but two wings, the hind pair replaced by a pair of small, slender filaments clubbed at tip, and called halteres, poisers, or balancers.

Fig. 24.—A Hawk-fly (Erax bastardi). a, perfect insect; b, pupa; larva shown at side.

Fig. 25.—A Flesh-fly (Sarcophaga carnaria, var. saracenæ). a, larva; b, puparium; c, adult insect with enlarged parts.

“No order surpasses this in the number of species or in the immense swarms of individuals belonging to the same species which are frequently met with. The wings, which are variously veined, though appearing naked to the unaided eye, are often thickly covered with very minute hairs or hooks. As an order the Diptera are decidedly injurious to man, whether we consider the annoyances to ourselves or our animals of the Mosquito, Buffalo-gnat, Gad-fly, Breeze-fly, Zimb or Stomoxys, or the injury to our crops of the Hessian-fly, Wheat-midge, Cabbage-maggot, Onion-maggot, etc. There are, in fact, but two families, Syrphidæ and Tachinidæ, which can be looked upon as beneficial to the cultivator, though many act the part of scavengers. No insects, not even the Lepidoptera, furnish such a variety of curious larval characters, and none, perhaps, offer a wider or more interesting field of investigation to the biologist. It is difficult to give any very satisfactory arrangement of these Two-winged flies, though they easily fall into two rather artificial sections. These are: 1st, Nemocera, or those with long antennæ, having more than six joints, and palpi having four or five joints. The pupa is naked, as in the Lepidoptera, with the limbs exposed. This kind of pupa is called obtected. 2d, Brachocera, or those with short antennæ, not having more than three distinct joints, and palpi with one or two joints. The pupa is mostly coarctate, i.e., is formed within, and more or less completely connected with, the hardened and shrunken skin of the larva.

Fig. 26.—The Sheep Bot (Œstrus ovis). 1, 2, flies; 3, puparium; 4, 5, and 6, larvæ or bots.

“The most anomalous of the Diptera are the Forest-flies and Sheep-ticks (Hippoboscidæ). They have a horny and flattened body, and resemble lice in their parasitic habits, living beneath the hair of bats and birds. Their mode of development has always attracted the attention of entomologists. The larvæ are hatched in the abdomen of the female, which is capable of distention. There it remains and, after assuming the pupa state, is deposited in the form of a short, white, egg-like object, without trace of articulation, and nearly as large as the abdomen of the female fly. Closely allied to these are the Bat-ticks (Nycteribidæ), which possess neither wings nor balancers, and remind one strongly of spiders.

“In this order we may also place certain wingless lice (such as Braula cœca, Nitzch), which infests the Honey-bee in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, but which has not yet been detected in this country.

Fig. 27.—A Flea (Pulex). (From Packard.)

“Suborder Aphaniptera (αϕανης, inconspicuous; πτερον, wing) or Fleas, comprising the single family Pulicidæ, now placed with the Diptera. Everybody is supposed to be familiar with the appearance of the Flea—its bloodthirsty propensities and amazing muscular power; and while everyone may not have the leisure and means to experience the exhilarating influence of the chase after larger animals, there is no one—be he never so humble—who may not indulge in the hunt after this smaller game! In place of wings the flea has four small, scaly plates. The minute eggs—about a dozen to each female—are laid in obscure places, such as the cracks of a floor, the hair of rugs, etc., and the larva is worm-like and feeds upon whatever animal matter—as grease and blood—or decaying vegetable matter it can find.

“Order ORTHOPTERA (ορθος, straight; πτερον, wing), or Straight-winged Insects. Characterized by having the front wings (called tegmina) straight and usually narrow, pergameneous or parchment-like, thickly veined, and overlapping at tips when closed; the hind wings large and folding longitudinally like a fan. Transformations incomplete.