376 NOlsEii OF IXSECTS. 



make a great din in the world. I must therefore now 

 bespeak your attention to this department of their hi- 

 story. 



In discussing this subject, I shall consider the noises 

 insects emit — duringtheir motions — when they are feed- 

 ing, or otherwise employed — when they are calling or 

 commanding — or when they are under the influence of 

 the passions; of fear, of anger, of sorrow, joy, or love. 



The only kind Oi hco7notion during which these ani- 

 mals produce sounds, is flying : for though the hiil-ants 

 {Formica rufa^ L.), as I formerly observed "*, make a 

 rustling noise with their feet when walking over dry 

 leaves, 1 know of no other insect the tread of which is 

 accompanied by sound — except indeed the flea, whose 

 steps, a lady assures me, she always hears when it paces 

 over her night-cap, and that it clicks as if it was walk- 

 ing in patiens ! ! That tlie flight of numbers of insects 

 is attended by a humming or booming is known to al- 

 most every one; but that the great majority move 

 through the air in silence, lias not perhaps been '•o often 

 observed. Generally speaking, those that fly with the 

 most force and rapidity, and with wings seemingly mo- 

 tionless, make the most noise; while those that fly 

 gently and leisurely, and visibly fan the air with their 

 wings, yield little or no sound. 



Amongst the beetle tribes (Colcoptera), none is more 

 noticed, or more celebrated for " wheeling its droning 

 flight," than the common dung-chafev {Scarc/bctus ster- 

 corariiis, L.) and its affinities. Linne affiruss — but the 

 prognosjic sometimes fails — that when tiiese insects fly 

 in numbers, it indicates a subsequent fine day^. The 



» See al)ovo, p. 9T. " 5j/s/. Nat. 550. 42. 



