516 SOUNDS PRODUCED BY INSECTS. 
is manifested in a low plaintive tone which, is given-out when 
the queen has been taken away; and the cheerful humming 
which is immediately heard when the sovereign is restored, is 
an evident indication of the last. Of all the Insects inha¬ 
biting this country, the most noisy are the Crickets; whose 
Fig. 259. —House-Cricket. 
sound, which seems to be their expression of love , is produced 
by the rubbing of the elytra or wing-covers one against the 
other. In several species it may be distinctly seen that a 
very strong nervure on one of these has a jagged surface like 
that of a file; and that this works against a collection of 
smaller nervures, which resemble so many strings. 
679. The Cicada (fig. 260) was a very favourite insect 
among the ancient Greeks; and was frequently mentioned 
by their poets with the most endearing epithets. Its song 
was considered particularly musical; and it was regarded as 
the happiest as well as the most innocent of animals. The 
Cicadse of other countries produce an extremely shrill and 
disagreeable sound, which can be heard at a great distance. 
In the warmer parts of the United States, there is a species 
which, in the hotter months of summer, is a very troublesome 
and impertinent neighbour. The Cicadse of Brazil are said 
to be audible at the distance of a mile : this is as if a man of 
ordinary stature, supposing his powers of voice increased in 
the ratio of his size, could be heard all over the world. The 
organs by which the sound is produced are placed on the 
under side of the body, between the base of the hind legs 
and the abdomen, and consist externally of a pair of large 
flattened plates of a horny texture, varying in form in the 
different species. "When these are raised, they are found to 
conceal a large cavity partially covered with a membrane of a 
