《Insect Natural History (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 8)》A. D. Imms电子书txt下载、在线阅读、内容简介、评论读后感-当当读书

Insect Natural History (Co…

A. D. Imms

内容简介

THE name insect is very commonly given to any small creeping animal with a ringed or segmented body and several pairs of legs. Not many people, excepting entomologists and trained biologists, could give a proper definition of an insect that would distinguish it from its near relatives. In the first place it needs to be borne in mind that insects belong to the great group of invertebrate animals known as the Arthropoda. These creatures have the body divided into more or less separate rings or segments, of which a variable number bear jointed limbs. Their whole body and the limbs are covered with a specially hardened cuticle forming an external skeleton. Between the segments, and at the joints of the limbs, there is flexible connecting membrane which allows of freedom of movement. An arthropod, in fact, is encased in a tubular outer skeleton, in striking contrast with a vertebrate animal whose skeleton lies within the body. The functions of the skeleton, whether it be an inner or an outer one, is to give attachment to the muscles and general support to the body. The word insect is derived from the Latin insectum, meaning “cut into,” and refers to the way in which its body is made up of a series of ring-like pieces.

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