BEETLE MUSICIANS 



141 



hind legs, chiefly the last pair, 

 with the edges of the wing cov- 

 ers. He is the " first fiddle " 

 of all out -doors. The locust 

 orchestra follow his lead and 

 method, but none of them have 

 inherited such a mahogany Stra- 

 divarius as he, and are thus left 

 far behind. 



If the Antiopa butterfly has 

 deceived some observers into 

 the belief that it has a " voice," 

 what shall be said of this con- 

 cert of quaint singers which I 

 have pictured on the bough op- 

 posite, for singers they would 

 certainly seem to be. There is 

 no motion of the legs or wings 

 observable in this group as they 

 sit there quietly in the sun on 

 the poplar branch. No fiddling 

 here. And yet the faint trio of 

 squeak music is plainly percep- 

 tible, as they nod continuously 

 to each other in mutual ap- 

 proval. I have frequently come 

 upon such a group, or an occa- 

 sional isolated individual sun- 

 ning itself upon the trunk of a 

 poplar in the woods. The in- 

 sect is about an inch and a 

 quarter long, and in its decora- 

 tion is a decided contrast to the 



