INSECT SPEECH. I 33 



Many of the social insects indulge in peculiar noises while 

 at their various employments — doubtless satisfied comment 

 on the favorable progress of their work. If we apply an ear 

 to the nest of an humble bee or to a bee hive, a hum of varied 

 intensity may be perceived. An enthusiast named Goedart 

 claimed that in every humble bee's nest there is a trumpeter, 

 who early in the morning ascends its summit, vibrates his 

 wings, and buzzing for a quarter of an hour, rouses the deni- 

 zens to daily toil. Nearly every one who recognizes the blue 

 mud wasp and has watched this diligent mason in the con- 

 struction of its adobe nesting cells, may have noticed the sin- 

 gular but complacent sound which lightens its labor, and 

 may be heard at quite a distance. 



The queen of the honey bee has been famed for a curious 

 noise which produces an extraordinary result upon her sub- 

 jects. It has been stated that at times, just before bees 

 swarm, instead of the monotonous hum usually heard, and 

 even in the middle of the night, if the ear be placed close to 

 the entrance of the hive, a sharp, clear note may be detected, 

 which seems to be caused by the vibration of the wings of a 

 single bee. This, it has been claimed, is the harangue of the 

 new queen to her vassals, to imbue them with courage to lay 

 the corner stone of a new empire. 



The praying mantis, the European Afa?iHs religiosa, when 

 alarmed and in an attitude of defense, according to M. 

 Goureau, an entomologist of France, rubs the sides of the 

 abdomen against the interior borders of the wings and elytra, 

 so as to produce a noise like that of parchment rubbed 

 together. The monkish legend tells us that St. Francis 

 Xavier, walking one day in a garden and seeing an insect of 

 the Mantis genus moving along in its solemn way, holding 

 up its two fore legs as in the act of devotion, desired it to 

 intone the praise of Deity. The legend adds that the saint 

 immediatel}- heard the insect carol a fine canticle with a loud 

 emphasis. Afantis religiosa has been introduced into northern 

 New York, probably in the ^^<g state on imported nursery 



