The five principal families are the Smynthuridæ, Papyriidæ, Degeeriadæ, Poduridæ, and the Amouridæ.
ORDER ORTHOPTERA.
Including the Grasshoppers, Locusts, Crickets, Cockroaches, Earwigs, and their Allies.
The Orthoptera include all those forms of insects which have four wings, the anterior pair being of a leathery nature. They are mandibulate; that is, their mouths are formed for biting, and they undergo an imperfect metamorphosis.
The insects comprised in this order are extremely numerous and destructive in the tropical parts of the world (Kirby gives their number as about 7,000), but they are only represented in the British Isles by about sixty species, few of which are really abundant. They include the cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, locusts, earwigs, etc.
All these insects may be divided into three sub-divisions or tribes—namely, the Runners or Cursoria, the Leapers or Saltatoria, and the Earwigs or Euplexoptera.
The following table will show at a glance the outlines of the proposed arrangement:—
[Tribe I., Cursoria].—Hind wings with veins radiating from the base. Hind legs formed for running.
[Tribe II., Saltatoria].—Hind wings with veins radiating from base. Hind legs formed for leaping.