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What They Are


Side view of grasshopper with wings and legs partly removed. Note the division of the body into head, thorax, composed of prothorax, mesothorax and metathorax, and abdomen consisting of ring-like segments.


Insects are variously formed, but as a rule the mature ones have three and only three pairs of legs, one pair of feelers, one pair of large eyes, and one or two pairs of wings. The body i

divided into a head, thorax and abdomen. The head bears the eyes, feelers and mouth, the thorax bears the legs and wings, and the abdomen is made up of a number of segments. The presence of wings at once decides whether or not it is an insect, for, aside from bats and birds, insects alone have true wings. These are the distinguishing characters of the full grown insect, but, like birds, they hatch from eggs and while young do not always look like their parents. When young they may take on various shapes as caterpillars, borers, maggots, grubs, hoppers, and the like. Young insects are often difficult to distinguish from true worms, centipedes, snails, and such forms, but after one has collected and reared some of the young and watched them pass through the different stages and emerge with wings they are much more easily recognized.





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