INSECT SPEECH. I 35 



a pin is introduced under the elj'tra it ceases. Long after 

 many of these insects are dead the noise may be caused by 

 pressure. The Capricorn tribes emit under alarm an acute or 

 creaking sound — which one writer calls querulous, and 

 another compares to the braying of an ass — by the friction 

 of the thorax, which they alternately elevate and depress, 

 against the neck, and sometimes against the base of the 

 el5'tra. Because of this, one species is in Germany termed 

 " the fiddler." Two other coleopterous genera make their cry 

 of " Touch me not " by rubbing their thorax against the base 

 of the elytra. Another beetle does the same by the friction 

 of its legs against each other. And, doubtless, many more 

 Coleoptera, if observed, would be found to express their fears 

 by similar means. 



In the other orders the examples of cries of terror are 

 much less numerous. A certain bug when taken emits a 

 sharp sound, probably with its rostrum, by moving its head 

 up and down. Ray made a similar remark with respect to 

 another bug, the cry of which he compares to the chirping of 

 a grasshopper. 



So far as regards the cries of joy or sorrow of insects, 

 there is little to be noted. That pleasure or pain makes a dif- 

 ference in the tones of vocal insects is not improbable, but 

 our organs of hearing are not fine enough to catch all their 

 different modulations. When Shirach had once smoked a 

 hive to oblige the bees to retire to the top of it, the queen 

 with some of the rest flew away. Upon this, those that 

 remained in the hive sent forth a most plaintive sound, as if 

 they were all deploring their loss. When their sovereign was 

 restored to them, these lugubrious sounds were succeeded by 

 an agreeable humming, which announced their joy at the 

 event. Huber relates that once when all the worker brood 

 was removed from a hive, and only male brood left, the bees 

 appeared in a state of extreme despondency. Assembled in 

 clusters upon the combs, they lost all their activity. The 

 queen dropped her eggs at random, and instead of the usual 



