NOISES OF INSECTS. 387 



ings have been most noticed by British observers is 

 A. tcsscllalinn, F. When spring- is far advanced, these 

 insects are said to commence their ticking', which is 

 only a call to each other, to which if no answer be re- 

 turned, the animal repeats it in another place. It is 

 thus produced. Raising itself upon its hind legs, with 

 the body somewhat inclined, it beats its head with great 

 force and agility upon the plane of position ; and its 

 strokes are so powerful as to make a considerable im- 

 pression if they fall upon any substance softer than 

 wood. The general number of distinct strokes in suc- 

 cession is from seven to nine or eleven. They follow 

 each other quickly, and are repeated at uncertain inter- 

 vals. In old houses, where these insects abound, they 

 may be heard in warm weather during the whole day. 

 The noise exactly resembles that produced by tapping 

 moderately with the nail upon the table ; and when 

 familiarized, the insect will answer very readily the 

 tap of the nail''. 



The queen bee has long been celebrated for a pecu- 

 liar sound, producing the most extraordinary effects 

 upon her subjects. Sometimes, just before bees swarm, 

 — instead of the great hum usually heard, and even in 

 the night — if the ear be placed close to the mouth of 

 the hive, a sharp clear sound may be distinguished, 

 which appears to be produced by the vibration of the 

 wings of a single bee. This, it has been pretended, is 

 the harangue of the new queen to her subjects, to in- 

 spire them with courage to achieve the foundation of 

 a new empire. But Butler gives to it a different in- 



" Shaw's Nal. Misc, iii. 104. Phil. Trans, xxxiii. 159. Compare Dh- 

 meril TroUt Element, li. 91. n. 694. 



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