108 INSECT MISCELLANIES. 



suppose, either that, by means of its antennae, it hears 

 a slight noise produced by the latent grub, perhaps 

 by the action of its mandibles ; or else that, by its 

 motions, it generates a motion in the atmosphere of 

 its habitation, which, striking upon the antennae of 

 the Fcenus, are by them communicated to its sensory. 

 A similar disproportion is observable between the 

 antennae and the ovipositor of another parasite fly 

 (Pimpla manifestator) *. Bees, when collecting 

 honey and pollen, first insert the organs in question 

 into the flowers which they visit ; but, as I have 

 more than once observed, they merely insert the tip 

 of them. If anthers are bursting, or nectar is 

 exuding, these processes probably are attended by a 

 slight noise, or motion of the air within the blossom, 

 which, as in the last case, affects without immediate 

 contact the exploring organs f." It is also probable 

 that this insertion is to ascertain the presence or 

 absence of insect enemies, which may be lying in 

 wait for mischief in the flowers. 



It is important to remark, with regard to this in- 

 quiry, that no effect is likely to be produced upon 

 insects by sounds unconnected with their habits J ; 

 for even the timid hare will scarcely bend its ear to the 

 clang of a peal of bells, or the beat of a drum, while 

 the bark of a lap-dog would put it to immediate 

 flight ; and though a flock of rooks, as we have fre- 

 quently remarked, will feed unalarmed during a 

 violent thunderstorm, the report of a fowling-piece, 

 though ever so distant, or even of a boy's pop-gun, 

 will instantly rouse them. The same holds with 

 respect to insects ; and accordingly the quick-eared 

 grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, will not pay any 

 attention to the beating of a watch, the ringing of 

 glasses, or any similar noise, while the object is kept 

 out of their sight, but the rustle of leaves, or the 



* Figured in Insect Transformations, 57-8. 

 f Intr. iv. 242. J Huber on Bees, p. 285. 



