Abstract
The phylogeny and the interrelationships of the insect orders always remain a matter of great interest to the general entomologist. The number of papers that have been published on this subject is very large. Very unfortunately, however, most of these papers are too brief, containing only a few facts to support the views which the author has adopted, or they deal only with one order or a group of more or less interrelated orders. The purpose of this paper is to offer a general account of the origin of the insects and the known relation ships between the insect orders, giving as many facts as possible to show these interrelationships.
As might be expected, current interpretations of the phylogeny of, and connections between the insect orders are not definitive, and many of our present views may have to be changed in the future, as knowledge progresses. Although this type of studies always reveals many unsolved problems, the large amount of data accumulated in the last few decades allows us to speculate on these matters, and in doing so, we may put some order and understanding into these chaotic accumulations of facts. This may explain, perhaps, the large number of papers on this subject, and will always justify further additions. Since this is not a detailed revision of all the known views available in the literature, I have adopted those which the facts best seem to support. However, in those cases in which the data can be equally interpreted in different ways, the various interpretations are discussed.