INSECT VAIIIETY. 219 



as their spiracles (Plate V., Fig-, i; a) have horny lips (l) with 

 a wavy or fluted construction^ these may influence the produc- 

 tion of music after the manner of a Pan^s-pipe. The inner 

 movable lips, which open and close the mouths of the trachea;, 

 appear similar, if not identical, with those of bees. 



Of the Coleoptera, the Lamellicorns are the greatest fliers and 

 aerial hummers. The boom of the Chafers and Stag- Beetles has 

 certainly the appearance of a tacitly understood evening call to 

 feed on the foliage, as one of a calm night hears them take 

 flight successively in one direction. The same may be observed 

 in the stercoi-aceous beetles when at early dusk or fresh morning 

 these bulky insects cross our path in the same line. But then 

 also this head-to-tail flight is found in the nectar- feeding 

 butterflies and moths, and, if independent of aerial agency, it 

 appears implicated with scent, for it is here we find the antenna 

 extended, lamellated, or pectinated. Longhorns and Tiger 

 Beetles also produce sounds on the wing, which in a water 

 beetle [Acilius], have been ascribed by Mr. Bye to Alulae. With 

 respect to the remaining orders which contain insects capable 

 of flight, certain Dragon-flies, especially the large species of 

 LihellaUna, give out a melancholy sound on the wing, which 

 Dr. Landois, who attributes its production to the spiracles, 

 thinks they learnt from listening to the sighing of the reeds. 

 And, turning from these to the Homoptera and Bugs, we have 

 numerous records of the Cicada Anglica flying in warm ferny 

 nooks with a rustling like a Dragon-fly ; and concerning indi- 

 viduals of Coreus murginatus, we learn from Kirby^ that when 

 " flying, especially when hovering together in a sunny sheltered 

 spot, they emit a hum as loud as that of the Hive Bee.^^ The 

 flying grasshoppers and locusts traverse the air with a sound 

 that has been compared to the notes of an jEolian lyre, patter of 

 rain-drops, or wind in the shrouds. 



The Homoptera in the genera of Cicadidse stand at the head 

 of the vocal musicians ; for these not only express considerable 

 range of sensation in their music, but possess highly specialised 

 organs for its production. In their genera we shall find, as 

 Carus has already shown, that the central portion of the body is 



* " Introduction," Lettr. XXIV., p. 485. 



