Entomology

[Fr. entomologie; Gr. entoma, insects-en, in, temno, to cut, and logos, discourse; Lat. insect a. See INSECT.] The science or natural history and description of insects. The name insect implies an animal insected or divided into segments. This term is applicable to the principal part of the articulate subkingdom, and was formerly applied to it; at present, the word insect is only used in reference to those articulated animals which are distinguished by antennæ and breathing-organs composed of ramified tracheæ, with or without air-sacs. The science of entomology presents to the student of nature the most numerous and diversified objects worthy of attention. The observation of the structure and instincts of insects is full of interest, and has at all times engaged the attention of men of science. Along with other branches of natural history, the study of entomology was cultivated by Aristotle and other philosophers among the ancient Greeks. Pliny does not add much in his works to the information given by Aristotle, and it was not studied as an absolute science till the 17th century, when progre began to be Fig . 944.- XYLOCOPA (Carpenter Bee) AND ITS NEST. made. The chief naturalists of that period were Gædart, Swammerdam, Malpighi, Leeuwenhoeck, and Ray. During the 18th century, the great Swedish naturalist Linnæus gave his attention to the study of entomology, and his cla ification, as far as the orders are concerned, has served as the basis of all that have been since promulgated. It is founded on the presence or absence of the wings, their number, consistence, surface, position in repose; and also on the presence or absence of a sting. De Geer and Fabric i us are, perhaps, after Linnæus, the most worthy to be named of the great entomologists of the 18th century. At the close of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, the name of Latreille is pre-eminently conspicuous. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the number of insects known and described has prodigiously increased; many entomologists have with great advantage devoted themselves particularly to the study of particular orders of insects; and many valuable monographs have appeared. Entomological literature has now become very extensive. We cannot attempt to enumerate the distinguished entomologists of the 19th century, but perhaps the names of Say, Meigen, Jurine, Gyllenhal, Graven horst, Hubner, Dufour Boisduval, Erichon, Lacordiere, Leach, Macleay, Curtis, West wood, Walker, Smith, and Swain non, deserve particular notice. - See INSECTS.