184 FAMILLf:. (Apis. **. d. 1.) 



character of the section. The extraordinary length 

 of the antennae of the males, does not arise from 

 an increased number of articulations, for they con-r 

 sist only of fourteen, but from the unusual length 

 of each joint. A singular circumstance distin- 

 guishes these antennae, which, to the best of my 

 knowledge, has never before been noticed, and 

 ■which may possibly lead to the discovery of the 

 use of these organs. Placed under a powerful 

 magnifier the ten last joints appear to be composed 

 of innumerable hexagons, similar to those of which 

 the eyes of these insects consist (y). If we reason 

 from analogy, this remarkable circumstance will 

 lead us to conjecture that the sense, of which this 

 part so essential to insects is the organ, may bear 

 some relation to that conveyed by their eyes. As 

 they are furnished with no instrument for receiving 

 and communicating the impressions of sound, 

 similar to the ear, that deficiency may be supplied 

 by extraordinary means of vision. That the stem- 

 mata are of this description seems very probable, 

 and the antennae may, in some degree, answer a 

 similar purpose: the circumstance just mentioned 

 furnishes a strong presumption that they do this, 

 at least in the case of these males : else why do 

 they exhibit that peculiar structure which distin^ 

 guishes the real eye ? 



The great vise which insects make of their an-r 

 Itennse in collecting information is described in a very 



(y) Tab. 10 ubi sup. fig. 8. 



entertaining 



