

516 SOUNDS PRODUCED BY INSECTS. 



is manifested in a low plaintive tone which is given-out when 

 the queen has been taken away ; and the cheerful humming 

 which is immediately heard when the sovereign is restored, is 

 an evident indication of the last. Of all the Insects inha- 

 biting this country, the most noisy are the Crickets; whose 



Fig. 259. HOUSE-CRICKET. 



sound, which seems to be their expression of love, is produced 

 by the rubbing of the elytra or wing-covers one against the 

 other. In several species it may be distinctly seen that a 

 very strong nervure on one of these has a jagged surface like 

 that of a file ; and that this works against a collection of 

 smaller nervures, which resemble so many strings. 



679. The Cicada (fig. 260) was a very favourite insect 

 among the ancient Greeks ; and was frequently mentioned 

 by their poets with the most endearing epithets. Its song 

 was considered particularly musical ; and it was regarded as 

 the happiest as well as the most innocent of animals. The 

 Cicadae of other countries produce an extremely shrill and 

 disagreeable sound, which can be heard at a great distance. 

 In the warmer parts of the United States, there is a species 

 which, in the hotter months of summer, is a very troublesome 

 and impertinent neighbour. The Cicadae of Brazil are said 

 to be audible at the distance of a mile : this is as if a man of 

 ordinary stature, supposing his powers of voice increased in 

 the ratio of his size, could be heard all over the world. The 

 organs by which the sound is produced are placed on the 

 under side of the body, between the base of the hind legs 

 and the abdomen, and consist externally of a pair of large 

 flattened plates of a horny texture, varying in form in the 

 different species. When these are raised, they are found to 

 conceal a large cavity partially covered with a membrane of a 



