BUTTERFLIES — MOTHS, 73 



trouve mal a son aise, qu'il crie ; il crie dans les poudries, 

 dans les boistes ou on le tient renferme; ses cris 

 redoublent lorsqu'on le prend, et il ne cesse de crier 

 tant qu'on le tient entre les doigts. En general il fait 

 grand usage de la faciilte de crier, que la nature lui a 

 accordee." * 



There Las been much doubt how the sound arises, but 

 it appears to be ascertained that the moth produces it 

 by rubbing the palpi against the base of the proboscis. f 



Huber thought, and subsequent writers — as, for 

 instance, Kirby and Spence, and Bevan — have con- 

 curred in the opinion, that the sound " operates on the 

 bees like the voice of their queen, and thus enables 

 the moth to commit the greatest ravages in the hives 

 with perfect immunity." | On the other hand, Huber 

 ascertained by experiment that it exercises no such 

 charm over humble bees. 



Several other species of the genus Sphinx also pro- 

 duce a sound, and a few other moths, for instance, 

 Noctua fovea. Darwin also mentions § a Brazilian 

 butterfly, Ageronia feronia, as making '' a noise like 

 that produced by a toothed wheel passing under a 

 spring catch, which could be heard at the distance 

 of several yards." 



The peacock butterfly ( Vanessa io) || is also said to 

 possess the same power. 



For further details with reference to the sounds 

 produced by insects, and, indeed, by animals generally, 



* " Mem. p. servir a I'Histoire des Insectes." 



t Landois, " Die Ton und Stimm Apparate der Insekten," Zeit.fur 

 Wus. Zool., vol. xvii. 



X Bevan, " On the Honey Bee." § " Descent of Man," vol. i. 



II "Die Ton and Stimm Apparate der Insekten," Zeit. fur Wiss. 

 Zool, 1867. 



