186 STUDIES IN LIFE AND SENSE. 



spiracles ; these openings being capable of closure at the will of the 

 insect a matter of absolute necessity for its safety during the rapidity 

 of flight. The cicada sings during the day, and almost solely when 

 the sun shines brightly. Virgil himself remarks of the insect that it 

 sings, " sole sub ardente," and of the tropical species Mr. Bates 

 remarks that " one large kind, perched high on the trees around our 

 little haven, set up a most piercing chirp ; it began," continues our 

 author, "with the usual harsh jarring note of its tribe, but this 

 gradually and rapidly became shriller, until it ended in a long and 

 loud note, resembling the steam whistle of a locomotive engine." 

 Thus much by way of introduction to the cicada and its music. 



Both sexes possess the musical apparatus, but that of the female 

 is comparatively simple as compared with the " drum " of her mate, 

 and is never used, as we have seen, for producing sounds. The 

 apparatus in question is situated in the last joint of the cicada's chest 

 and in the succeeding and front joints of its tail. Briefly described, 

 the "drum" or "timbale" of the insect consists of a tightly stretched 

 membrane and other structures, capable of being affected, stretched, 

 and otherwise manipulated, by certain muscles, along with certain 

 cavities destined to increase the resonance of the notes ; whilst we 

 may not omit to mention the spiracles or breathing apertures as 

 playing an important part in the production of the song. The drum 

 is the song-producer, which, through its vibrations, gives origin to 

 the characteristic sounds, and the accessory apparatus serves to 

 increase the intensity of the notes. And the spiracles or breathing 

 apparatus may be lastly noted to play an important part in this 

 process, since they serve to maintain the necessary equilibrium 

 between the external air and the atmosphere imprisoned in the 

 cavities already mentioned, as serving to increase and intensify the 

 sounds. Abundant evidence testifies to the fact of the song of the 

 cicada being used to allure the female insects, and voice is thus again 

 witnessed as a means of courtship. Is there, after all, not a strong 

 analogy betwixt the love-song and the low and tender accents of the 

 lover's part as played by humanity, and the song of the cicada with 

 its varying intonations and accents appealing as powerfully in favour 

 of the attractive swain as in the world of thought and mind ? And it 

 seems, indeed, a laudable enough inference, not merely that rivalry in 

 song is a stated and regular occurrence in cicada-life, but that, through 

 such competition in voice, the weakest go to the wall, whilst the 

 most musical insects come to the front in the " struggle for 

 existence." 



An array of mailed forms,, including " the shard-borne beetle with 

 his drowsy hum," next demands attention. In no beetle, and indeed 

 in no other insects, do we meet with the perfection of vocalisation 

 seen in the grasshoppers and their relations. . And with the beetle we 



