THE LANGUAGE OF ANTS 



number of vibrations on the basis of two hundred and 

 fifty-six per second for the note C. 1 Tuning-forks are 

 perhaps the most convenient instruments for such ex- 

 periments, which may be made by any one who has an 

 ordinarily ^ood ear for musical sounds. The writer 



*s ^J 



has used his flute with some measure of success. The 

 house-fly has a wing-tone of F, or three hundred and fifty- 

 two vibrations per second. The honey-bee strikes A, 

 which means that it moves its wings at the rate of four 

 hundred and forty times a second. When, burdened 

 with its weight of pollen, the bee is on its homestretch, 

 its wing-tone falls to E, indicating three hundred and 

 thirty vibrations a second. 



An interesting confirmation of these results has been 

 made by fixing a fly within a carbonized cylinder re- 

 volved by clock-work. The tips of the fly's agitated 

 wings left at every stroke a slight mark upon the smoked 

 surface of the glass, which, being counted, gave sub- 

 stantially the same result as above viz., three hundred 

 and thirty wing-strokes a second. 



To be sure, such tones as these may be held to be a 

 mere mechanical product or reflex; yet that they have 

 the power to express certain ideas will be clear to one 

 who will observe the effect produced upon a community 

 of bees or hornets by the buzzing of one of their number 

 when angry. The excitement runs rapidly from one to 

 another, until many members are visibly affected. The 

 original irate had certainly communicated her mood 

 to her fellows. 



Even insects of alien species seem to understand such 

 wing-stroke language. Let an angry hornet or yellow T - 



1 The most extensive studies in this interesting field are those of 

 the veteran entomoloo-ist, Samuel C. Scudder. 



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