i86 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



also experimented with quinine, for which the Insects experimented upon evinced 

 a similar disgust. He found that bees and wasps possess a far more delicate taste 

 than flies. Forel, also, tried similar experiments with ants. Accustomed to being 

 fed with honey, he ga\'e them some with which morphine and strychnine had been 

 mixed, and they began to take it ; but as soon as tlieir lips touched it they discovered 

 the fraud, and refused to consume it. 



We shall show in another article ^ that many Insects have the power of 

 sound-production, and that the power is usually conhned to the male sex. This 



implies that it is of use in the court- 

 ship of the species, and further that 

 the other sex at least must be pro- 

 vided with organs of hearing to render 

 this sound-production effective. Some 

 naturalists have argued that Insects 

 are \^■ithout ears, and can only appre- 

 ciate sounds as air vibrations by the 

 sense of touch. Against this, we have 

 the fact that in many of the grass- 

 hopper family there is a distinct ear, 

 imperfectly formed in those species 

 that do not produce sounds, but 

 highly developed in those that do. 

 In some species these ears are situated 

 on the upper side of the hind-body, 

 just above the base of the hind-leg 

 (see page 3) ; in others they will be 

 found on the shank of the front pair 

 of legs, a little below the knee. There 

 is a tense membrane or drum covering 

 an inner chamber in which are audi- 

 tory rods connecting with the nerves 

 of hearing and collecting impressions 

 from the vibrations of the drum. In 

 other Insects it is believed that the 

 sense of hearing has its organ in the 

 antennae. Ants and certain species 

 of bees have in their antennas flask- 

 shaped organs known as " Hicks' bottk's " (from their discoverer, Braxton 

 Hicks), and Lubbock believed that they act as microscopic stethoscopes. 

 Some of the hairs on the wonderful antonn.-e of tlie male mosquito 

 and gnat have been proved to respond to the \il:)rati()ns of a tuning 

 fork giving 512 vibrations to the S(>cond. " Other hairs were found to 

 vibrate to oth(M- notes, extending through tiic middle and next higher octave 

 of the piano." It was found that the hum of thr female mosquito was of just 

 the necessary pitch to set these hairs \'ibrating. Mayer found tliat the song of 



1 " Musical Insects." 



Photo by] [E. S'ep, F.L.S. 



A Grasshopper's Ear. 



Tho long-horned grasshoppers and the crickets carry their ears in their 

 front legs. The photograph is from a South African species, and is four 

 times larger than the natural size. The position of the ear is indicated 

 bv the arrow. 



