136 OMENSETTKK : INSKCT SPEECH. 



active hum, a dead silence reigned in the precincts of the hive. 

 In addition to sounds of communication, various noises are 

 caused when insects are feeding or flying. The action of the 

 jaws of a large number of chafers produces a noise resembling 

 the sawing of timber ; that of the locusts has been compared 

 to the crackling of a flame of 6re driven by the wind — 

 indeed the collision at the same instant of myriads of millions 

 of their powerful jaws must be attended by a considerable 

 sound. The timber borers also, the stag horn beetles, and 

 particularly the Capricorn beetles — the mandibles of whose 

 larvie resemble a pair of millstones — most probably do not 

 feed in silence. A little wood louse — which on that account 

 has been confounded with the death watch — is said also, 

 when so engaged, to emit a ticking noise. Certain flies seen 

 in Spring, distinguished by a very long proboscis, hum all the 

 time that they suck the honey from the flowers ; as do also 

 many hawk moths, particularly that called from this circum- 

 stance the humming bird, which, while it hovers over them, 

 unfolding its long tongue, pilfers their sweets without inter- 

 rupting its song. The giant roach, which abounds in old 

 timber houses in the warmer parts of the world, makes a 

 noise when the family are asleep like a pretty smart rapping 

 with the knuckles — three or four sometimes appearing to 

 answer each other. On this account in the V/est Indies it is 

 called the "drummer," and they sometimes beat such a 

 reveille that only good sleepers can rest for them. As the 

 insects of this genus generally come forth in the night for the 

 purpose of feeding, this noise is probably connected therewith. 



