The Butterfly Book. W. J. Holland

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СКАЧАТЬ has been made. When a science treats of things, it is necessary that these things should become the subject of investigation, until at last their relation to one another, and the whole class of things to which they belong, has been discovered. Men who devote themselves to the discovery of the relation of things and to their orderly classification are known as systematists.

      The great leader in this work was the immortal Linnæus, the "Father of Natural History," as he has been called. Upon the foundation laid by him in his work entitled "Systema Naturæ," or "The System of Nature," all who have followed after him have labored, and the result has been the rise of the great modern sciences of botany and zoölogy, which treat respectively of the vegetable and animal kingdoms.

      The Place of Butterflies in the Animal Kingdom.—The animal kingdom, for purposes of classification, has been subdivided into various groups known as subkingdoms. One of these subkingdoms contains those animals which, being without vertebræ, or an internal skeleton, have an external skeleton, composed of a series of horny rings, attached to which are various organs. This subkingdom is known by naturalists under the name of the Arthropoda. The word Arthropoda is derived from the Greek language and is compounded of two words, (αρθρον), meaning a joint and (πουσ), meaning a foot. The Arthropoda seem at first sight to be made up of jointed rings and feet; hence the name.

       Plate VI.

      The subkingdom of the Arthropoda is again subdivided into six classes. These are the following:

      Class I. The Crustacea (Shrimps, Crabs, Water-fleas, etc.).

      Class II. The Podostomata (King-crabs, Trilobites [fossil], etc.).

      Class III. The Malacopoda (Peripatus, a curious genus of worm-like creatures, found in the tropics, and allied to the Myriapods in some important respects).

      Class IV. The Myriapoda (Centipedes, etc.).

      Class V. The Arachnida (Spiders, Mites, etc.).

      Class VI. The Insecta (Insects).

      That branch of zoölogy which treats of insects is known as entomology.

      The Insecta have been variously subdivided by different scientific writers, but the following subdivision has much in it to commend it, and will suffice as an outline for the guidance of the advanced student.

      Class VI. Insecta (Insects proper)

      Heterometabola

      For the most part undergoing only a partial metamorphosis in the development from the egg to the imago.

      ORDERS

       1. Thysanura.

       Suborders:

       Collembola (Podura, Springtails).

       Symphyla (Scolopendrella).

       Cinura (Bristletails, etc.).

       2. Dermatoptera (Earwigs).

       3. Pseudoneuroptera.

       Suborders:

       Mallophaga (Bird-lice).

       Platyptera (Stone-flies, Termites, etc.).

       Odonata (Dragon-flies, etc.).

       Ephemerina (May-flies, etc.).

       4. Neuroptera (Corydalis, Ant-lion, Caddis-flies, etc.).

       5. Orthoptera (Cockroach, Mantis, Mole-cricket, Grasshopper, Katydid, etc.).

       6. Hemiptera.

       Suborders:

       Parasita (Lice).

       Sternorhyncha (Aphids, Mealy Bugs, etc.).

       Homoptera (Cicada, Tree-hoppers, etc.).

       Heteroptera (Ranatra, Belostoma, Water-spiders, Squash-bugs, Bedbugs, etc.).

       7. Coleoptera.

       Suborders:

       Cryptotetramera (Lady-birds, etc.).

       Cryptopentamera (Leaf-beetles, Longhorns, Weevils, etc.).

       Heteromera (Blister-beetles, Meal-beetles, etc.).

       Pentamera (Fire-flies, Skipjacks, June-bugs, Dung-beetles, Stag-beetles,

       Rove-beetles, Tiger-beetles, etc.).

      

      Metabola

      Undergoing for the most part a complete metamorphosis from egg, through larva and pupa, to imago.

      ORDERS

       8. Aphaniptera (Fleas).

       9. Diptera.

       Suborders:

       Orthorhapha (Hessian Flies, Buffalo-gnats, Mosquitos, Crane-flies, Horse-flies).

       Cyclorhapha (Syrphus, Bot-flies, Tsetse, House-flies, etc.).

       10. Lepidoptera.

       Suborders:

       Rhopalocera (Butterflies).

       Heterocera (Moths).

       11. Hymenoptera.

       Suborders:

       Terebrantia (Saw-flies, Gall-wasps, Ichneumon-flies, etc.).

       Aculeata (Ants, Cuckoo-flies, Digger-wasps, True Wasps, Bees).

It will be seen by glancing at the foregoing table that the butterflies and moths are included as suborders in the tenth group of the list, to which is applied the name Lepidoptera. This word, like most other scientific words, is derived from the Greek, and is compounded of the noun (λεπισ), which signifies a scale, and the noun (λεπισ), which signifies a wing. The butterflies and moths together constitute the order of scale-winged insects. The appropriateness of this name will no doubt be at once recognized by every reader, who, having perhaps unintentionally rubbed off some of the minute scales which clothe the wings of a butterfly, has taken the trouble to examine them under a microscope, or who has attentively read what has been said upon this subject in the first chapter of this book. By referring again to the classification which has been given, it will be noted that the last four orders in the list agree in that the creatures included within them undergo for the most part what is known as a complete metamorphosis; that is to say, they pass through four successive stages of development, existing first as eggs, then as worm-like larvæ, or caterpillars, then as pupæ, СКАЧАТЬ