MUSIC OF BEI>. 



insect could still utter (as well it might) a shrill peevish sound; 

 and the same is confirmed by the silent flight of many insects 

 of the same order. 



Speaking of the hum of bees, which, though monotonous, is, 

 through association, one of the most delightful of all insect 

 harmonies, Kirby remarks, "that it ceases when she alights; 

 that of the wasp and hornet is more sonorous. The bora- 

 bination of humble-bees may be heard from far, gradually in- 

 creasing, till, when in its wheeling flight it passes close to the 

 ear, almost stunning it by its sharp, shrill, deafening sound. "* 



The buzz of flies has been supposed to arise from the striking 

 of their wings upon the air ; but this would seem disproved by 

 the silent progress of many other rapid fliers, such as the dragon 

 and crane flies; also by the power of some to produce a loud 

 buzz when not upon the wing. Rennief cites, as an example, 

 ihc buzz of a wasp-fly, when resting, apparently motionless, on 

 the window. Upon close observation, a vibratory tremor, 

 similar to that of a harp-string, though so rapid as to be 

 almost invisible, was perceptible in its wings ; and when these 

 were laid hold of, the sound ceased. It is supposed by the 

 same author that this sound was not referable, simply, to any 

 muscular movement, but that it must have arisen either from air 

 playing on the menibranaceous edges of the wings at their 

 origin, as in the case of an JEolian harp-string, or by the stroke 

 or friction of some internal organ upon the roots of the 



* Introduction to Entomology . f In Insect Miscellanies. 



