Indian Insect Life

THE insects are tracheate, hexapodous arthropoda, with a distinct head bearing antennae, with a great degree of complexity in their development during which a series of moults are undergone, culminating in the appearance of functional generative organs and wings ; in the higher forms, the development is sharply divided into three distinct periods, the last of which is marked by the inactivity of the organism as a whole and the complete reorganisation undergone by the tissues ; they are essentially air-breathing animals, living on land, but some have become adapted to living in fresh water. The number of jointed legs separates them clearly from other tracheate Arthropods, just as the metamorphosis, the possession of wings and the form and the number of .segments does. They are regarded as being most closely related to Peripatus of all present forms of life, and undoubtedly represent a great branch of the tree of life whose development equals, if not excels, that of any other branch. In numbers, in species, in all but one form of mentality, the insects are the dominant form of life on the land at the present time, but theJimitations put on them are of such a nature that their dominance must remain within bounds and, unless man be removed, cannot be actual and entire.