NOISES OF INSECTS. 395 



cies of beetle (Phnelia striata, F.), the female has a 

 round granulated spot in the middle of the second seg- 

 ment of the abdomen, by striking- which against any 

 hard substance, she produces a rather loud sound, and 

 that the male, obedient to this call, soon attends her, 

 and they pair"*. 



As I have nothing to communicate to you with re- 

 spect to the love-songs of otiier insects, my further ob- 

 T^ervations will be confined to the two tribes lately 

 mentioned, the Gri/lUdce and the Cicadce. 



No sound is to me more agreeable than the chirping 

 of most of the GryllidEe ; it gives life to solitude, and 

 always conveys to my mind the idea of a perfectly 

 happy being. As these creatures are now very pro- 

 perly divided into several genera, I shall say a few 

 words upon the song of such as are known to be vocal, 

 separately. 



The remarkable genus Pneumora — whose pellucid 

 abdomen is blown up like a bladder, on wliich account 

 they are called Blaazops by the Dutch colonists at the 

 Cape — in the evening, for tliey are silent in the day, 

 make a tremulous and tolerably loud noise, which is 

 sometimes heard on every side". How their sound is 

 produced is not stated. 



The cricket tribe are a very noisy race, and their 

 chirping is caused by the friction of the bases of their 

 elytra against each other. For this purpose there is 

 something peculiar in their structure, which I shall 

 describe to you. The elytra of both sexes are divided 

 longitudinally into two portions ; a vertical or lateral 

 one, which covers the sides; and a horizontal or dorsal 



" Oliv. Entomol. i. Pref. ix. " Sparrman, Voy. i. 312, 



