THE WING SYSTEM. THE illustrious Aristotle, almost the only genuine naturalist among the ancients, seems to have been the first who distinguished insects by their wings,a principle followed with greater minuteness, in recent times, by Linnæus and De Geer. Aristotle does not, indeed, put his system in a tabular form; but, for the sake of brevity, we shall draw up a table, founded on indications in his admirable History of Animals. Aristotle's Classification. I. WINGED INSECTS (Plerota, or Ptilota). 4. With powdery wings-moths and butterflies 5. With four transparent wings (Tetraptera). Without mouth-piercers, and smaller-flies and With mouth-piercers-gnats and gad-flies (Emprosthocentra). II. WINGLESS INSECTS. 1. Occasionally acquiring wings:- Glow-worms (Pygolampides). 2. Without wings (Aptera). Linnæus's Classification. I. WINGED INSECTS. 1. With four wings: a, Upper wings more or less crustaceous; the under wings membranaceous, Upper wings quite crustaceous, and not overlapping-beetles (Coleoptera). Upper wings semi-crustaceous, and over-lapping-bugs and grasshoppers (Hemiptera). b, Upper and under wings of the same texture. Wings covered with small tiled scales-butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Wings membranaceous and naked. Without a sting-dragon-flies, &c. (Neuroptera). With a sting-wasps, bees, &c. (Hymenop tera). 2. With two wings:-Flies, gnats, &c. (Diptera). II. WINGLESS INSECTS (Aptera). De Geer's Classification. I. WINGED INSECTS. 1. Wings four, without wing-cases :→→ a, Wings covered with scales; tongue spiralbutterflies and moths. b, Wings naked and membranaceous-May-flies and caddis-flies. c, Wings equal, membranaceous, and netted; the mouth with teeth-dragon-flies and lacewinged flies. d, Wings unequal; nervures placed lengthwise; mouth with teeth; and the females having a sting or ovipositor-bees, wasps, ants, ichneumons, saw-flies, &c. e, Wings membranaceous; the tongue bent under 2. Wings two, covered by two wing-cases :- b. Wing-cases coriaceous, or somewhat crusta- c, Wing-cases hard and crustaceous, not overlapping, covering the under wings; mouth with teeth-beetles. 3. Wings two, without wing-cases :— a, Two membranaceous wings, and two poisers behind these; mouth with a tongue, but no teeth-flies, gnats, &c. b, Two membranaceous wings in the male, but no poisers, tongue, nor teeth; no wings in the female, but a tongue in the breastvine-louse, &c. II. WINGLESS INSECTS. 1. Undergoing transformation:· With six legs, and the mouth having a tonguefleas. 2. Undergoing no transformations: a, With six legs, the head distinct from the b, With eight or ten legs, and the head not dis- THE LOCALITY SYSTEM. THE next system, in order of time, reckoning from the period of Aristotle, is taken, not from the structure of insects, but the places they frequent. We owe the first sketch of an arrangement on this principle to the great naturalist of Italy, Ulysses Aldrovand, whom it has been the recent fashion to decry as a collector of fables; but whose voluminous works, written in Latin, and never, we believe, translated, must always be consulted with admiration by every genuine inquirer, as a mine of information altogether miraculous as the production of one man, Aldrovand's Classification. I. LAND INSECTS (Terrestria). 1. With feet (Pedata):- Without wing-cases (Anelytra). With membranaceous wings (Membranacea). Not honey-making (Non favifica).' 2. Without feet (Apoda). a, With few feet (Paucipeda). Vallisnieri's Classification. I. Plant Insects (Insetti, che annidano nelle piante e le divorano). II. Water Insects (Insetti, che nuotano, crescono, vivono, e sempre dimorano ne' soli fluidi). III. Insects inhabiting Earthy or Mineral Substances (Insetti, che si trovano dentro i marmi, sassi, crete, ossa, e conchiglie). IV. Insects inhabiting Living Animals (Insetti, che fanno dentro, o sopra i viventi *). Fabricius's Geographical Classification. This celebrated systematic writer divides the globe into eight insect climates: 1. Indian. 2. Egyptian. 3. Southern. 4. Mediterranean. 5. Northern. 6. Oriental. 7. Occidental. * Esperienze ed Osservazioni, p. 42, 43; 4to., Padova, 1726, Latreille's Geographical Classification. This celebrated French systematist has written a curious and ingenious paper on the Geography of Insects, as a companion to Humboldt's famous Geography of Plants. He divides the globe into twelve insect zones or climates, thus : I. ARCTIC, all North of the Equator. II. ANTARCTIC, all South of the Equator. 1. Equatorial. 2. Tropical. 3. Supra-tropical. 4. Intermediate. Connected with this subject is the doctrine of Representation and Replacement, by which it is maintained, that when a particular species of insect, or other animal, is not found in two several countries or districts, such as Britain and New England, it is represented or replaced by some species resembling it in form and in function. Taking a more popular example than insects furnish, it is held, according to this system, that the puma of America replaces the lion of Africa, or that the pecari represents in Mexico the hog of Europe. THE TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM. By consulting our previous volume on Insect Transformations, it may be seen that there are considerable differences in this circumstance among various species. These, the illustrious Swammerdam, whose accurate observations are now as valuable as when they were |