by Piter Kehoma Boll
This is the third part of this series of posts. See here part 1, part 2 and part 4.
In this post I’ll present a single class: Insecta. At that time, however, Insecta included not only what we call insects today, but all arthropods.
5. Insecta (Insects)
Heart with one ventricle and one auricle; cold pus.
Spiracles: pores at the sides of the body.
Jaws lateral.
Penises entering.
Senses: tongue, eyes, antennae in head without brain (no ears and nostrils).
Covering: armored sustaining bony skin.
Support: feet, in some wings.
Insects were classified according to the number and aspect of the wings and included 7 orders: Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Aptera.
5.1 Coleoptera (case wings), with four wings, the forewings fully hardened: Scarabeus (scarab beetles), Dermestes (larder beetles), Hister (clown beetles), Attelabus (leaf-rolling weevils), Curculio (true weevils), Silpha (carrion beetles), Coccinella (ladybugs), Cassida (tortoise beetles), Chrysomela (leaf beetles), Meloe (blister beetles), Tenebrio (darkling beetles), Mordella (tumbling flower beetles), Staphylinus (rove beetles), Cerambyx (longhorn beetles), Leptura (flower longhorn beetles), Cantharis (soldier beetles, glowworms), Elater (click beetles), Cicindela (tiger beetles), Buprestis (jewel beetles), Dytiscus (diving beetles), Carabus (ground beetles), Necydalis (wasp beetles), Forficula (earwigs), Blatta (cockroaches), Gryllus (crickets, locusts, grasshoppers, mantises, stick bugs).
Species grouped by Linnaeus under Coleoptera (from left to right, top to bottom): sacred scarab (Scarabaeus sacer), larder beetle (Dermestes lardarius), four-spotted clown beetle (Hister quadrimaculatus), hazel-leaf roller weevil (Attelabus coryli, currently Apoderus coryli), nut weevil (Curculio nucum), dark carrion beetle (Silpha obscura), seven-spotted ladybug (Coccinella septempunctata), green tortoise beetle (Cassida viridis), red poplar leaf beetle (Chrysomela populi), black blister beetle (Meloe proscarabaeus), mealworm beetle (Tenebrio molitor), pointed tumbling flower beetle (Mordella aculeata), red-winged rove beetle (Staphylinus erythropterus), great capricorn beetle (Cerambyx cerdo), banded flower longhorn beetle (Leptura quadrifasciata), dull soldier beetle (Cantharis fusca), red click beetle (Elater ferrugineus), green tiger beetle (Cicindela campestris), eight-spotted jewel beetle (Buprestis octoguttata), broad diving beetle (Dytiscus latissimus), hard ground beetle (Carabus coriaceus), greater wasp beetle (Necydalis major), European earwig (Forficula auricularia), common cockroach (Blatta orientalis), and common field cricket (Gryllus campestris). Credits to Wikimedia user Sarefo (scarab), Guttorm Flatabø (larder beetle), Didier Descouens (clown beetle, tumbling flower beetle), entomart [www.entomart.be] (weevils, tortoise beetle), Dominik Stodulski (ladybug), Wikimedia user Quartl (leaf beetle, flower longhorn beetle), Václav Hanzlík (rove beetle), Franz Xaver (capricorn beetle), James K. Lindsey (soldier beetle), Stanislav Krejčik (click beetle), Olaf Leillinger (tiger beetle), Biopix [www.biopix.com] (diving beetle), Gyorgy Csoka (wasp beetle), Miroslav Deml (earwig), K Schneider (cockroach), Gilles San Martin (cricket).
Linnaeus’ Hemiptera included the following species (from left to right, top to bottom): ash cicada (Cicada orni), common backswimmer (Notonecta glauca), common water scorpion (Nepa cinerea), common bedbug (Cimex lectularius), elder aphid (Aphis sambuci), pineapple gall aldegid (Chermes abietis, currently Adelges abietis), brown soft scale (Coccus hesperidum), and dandelion thrips (Thrips physapus). Credits to Wikimedia user Hectonichus (cicada), Holger Gröschl (backswimmer), Wikimedia user XenonX3 (water scorpion), James K. Lindsey (aphid), Magne Flåten (aldegid), Whitney Cranshaw (soft scale), thrips.w.interiowo.pl (thrips).
5.3 Lepidoptera (scale wings), with four scaly wings: Papilio (butterflies), Phalaena (moths), Sphinx (hawk moths).
Among the species put by Linnaeus under Lepidoptera, there were (from left to right): paris peacock (Papilio paris), gothic moth (Phalaena typica, now Naenia typica), and privet hawk moth (Sphinx ligustri). Credits to Wikimedia user Peellden (paris peacock), Danny Chapman (gothic moth), Wikimedia user Jdiemer (hawk moth).
5.4 Neuroptera (veined wings), with four membranous wings and an unarmed tail: Libellula (dragonflies and damselflies), Ephemera (mayflies), Phryganea (caddislies), Hemerobius (lacewings, antlions, alderflies), Panorpa (scorpionflies), Raphidia (snakeflies).
Linnaeus order Neuroptera included (from left to right, top to bottom) the four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata), common mayfly (Ephemera vulgata), greater caddisly (Phryganea grandis), common brown lacewing (Hemerobius humulinus), common scorpionfly (Panorpa communis), and common snakefly (Raphidia ophiopsis). Credits to Wikimedia user Bj.schoenmakers (mayfly), Donald Hobern (caddisfly), Wikimedia user AfroBrazilian (lacewing), André Karwath (scorpionfly).
5.5 Hymenoptera (membranous wings), with four membranous wings and an armed tail: Cynips (gall wasps), Tenthredo (sawflies), Ichneumon (parasitoid wasps), Sphex (digger wasps and potter wasps), Vespa (hornets and wasps), Apis (bees), Formica (ants), Mutilla (velvet ants).
Linnaeus order Hymenoptera included (from left to right, top to bottom) the common gall wasp (Cynips quercusfolii), figwort sawfly (Tenthredo scrophulariae), common parasitoid wasp (Ichneumon sarcitorius), South American potter wasp (Sphex argillacea, now Zeta argillaceum), European hornet (Vespa crabro), Western honey bee (Apis mellifera), red wood ant (Formica rufa), and European velvet ant (Mutilla europaea). Credits to Wikimedia user Wofl (gall wasp), James K. Lindsey (sawfly, parasitoid wasp), Sean McCann (potter wasp), Wikimedia user Flugwapsch62 (hornet), Böhringer Friedrich (bee), Adam Opioła (ant), Valter Jacinto (velvet ant).
5.6 Diptera (two wings), with two wings: Oestrus (botflies), Tipula (craneflies and midges), Musca (houseflies, hoverflies, blowflies, snipe flies), Tabanus (horse-flies), Culex (mosquitoes), Empis (dance flies), Conops (thick-headed flies, hornflies, stable flies), Asilus (robber flies), Bombylius (beeflies), Hippobosca (louse flies).
In Diptera, Linnaeus included the sheep botly (Oestrus ovis), garden cranefly (Tipula hortorum), common housefly (Musca domestica), pale giant horse-fly (Tabanus bovinus), common house mosquito (Culex pipiens), northern dance fly (Empis borealis), yellow thick-headed fly (Conops flavipes), hornet robberfly (Asilus crabroniformis), large beefly (Bombylius major), and forest fly (Hippobosca equina). Credits to picotverd user from diptera.info (botfly), James K. Lindsey (cranefly, horse-fly, dance fly), Kamran Iftikhar (housefly), David Barillet-Portal (mosquito), Martin Harvey (robberfly), Richard Bartz (beefly), Wikimedia user Janswart (forest fly).
5.7 Aptera (no wings), without wings: Lepisma (silverfishes), Podura (springtails), Termes (termites and barklice), Pediculus (lice), Pulex (fleas), Acarus (mites and ticks), Phalangium (harvestmen, whip spider and whip scorpions), Aranea (spiders), Scorpio (scorpions), Cancer (crabs, lobsters, shrimp), Monoculus (tadpole shrimps, water fleas, horseshoe crabs), Oniscus (woodlice), Scolopendra (centipedes), Julus (milipedes).
The messy order Aptera included (from left to right, top to bottom) the silverfish (Lepisma saccharina), the water springtail (Podura aquatica), the larger pale trogiid (Termes pulsatorium, now Trogium pulsatorium), the head louse (Pediculus humanus), the human flea (Pulex irritans), the flour mite (Acarus siro), the common harvestman (Phalangium opilio), the angular garden spider (Aranea angulata, now Araneus angulatus), the large clawed scorpion (Scorpio maurus), the brown crab (Cancer pagurus), the common tadpole shrimp (Monoculus apus, now Lepidurus apus), the common woodlouse (Oniscus asellus), the Amazonian giant centipede (Scolopendra gigantea), and the common millipede (Julus terrestris). Credits to Christian Fischer (silverfish, springtail), Josef Reischig (louse), Michael Wunderli (flea), Joel Mills (mite), Didier Descouens (harvestman), Thomas Kraft (spider), Guy Haimovitch (scorpion), Hans Hillewaert (crab), Christian Fischer (tadpole shrimp), Fritz Geller-Grimm (woodlouse), Katka Nemčoková (centipede), Carmen Juaréz/Pedro do Rego (millipede).
As one can notice, Linnaeus was pretty good at classifying hymenopterans, dipterans and lepidopterans. His orders Coleoptera and Hemiptera were not that bad too. Neuroptera was a little messy, but nothing compares to Aptera, where he put everything without wings, from silverfish to spiders, crabs and millipedes! It’s amazing how accurate he was with certain groups, but a complete disaster with others.
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References:
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae…
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