326 



THE AMERICAN 



SOME flOOD THOUCnTS PROM AN EMINENT ENTO- 

 MOLOGIST. 



Ill the chiiptcr on Diptcra, in tlie " Record of 

 American Entomology for the year 1869," we 

 find the followng remarks from Baron Osten 

 Sacken, wliicli we ln'urlily c-(immond: 



"HowcMT iiH'.ii:!!' (li|ii('i(ilog'y has appeai-ed 

 among us in iscn. ilicn' is a ijdud deal of comfort 

 to be derived from the healthy direction it is 

 lakiiig. Togetlier with the other branches of 

 entomology in this country, it has assumed an 

 Imminently practical tendency. By practical I 

 do not merely mean the relation of entomology 

 to the dollars and cents question, but its relation 

 to living nature in general. The more this science 

 progresses in America, the more it becomes ap- 

 l>arcnt that its development does not depend on 

 I 111' iifcessity of putting in order a museum and 

 cl.issi lying some boxed up specimens, but from 

 the ivaving to understand living nature and the 

 desire tii ni;isler it when necessary. This craving 

 for knowledge among the masses in America is 

 as remarkable as the keen eye for observation, 

 and the open iniud wljich are brought into play 

 to satisfy this instinct. Entomologists often re- 

 ceive letters of in(iuiry from fanners, -ardeners. 



utni 



they generally have every reason to be astonished 

 at the fulness and accuracy of the observations 

 of these men of manual labor, as well as at the 

 slirewdnesK displaycil in llie manageineiit of tlieir 

 experiments. Very often an invesli-alion i- liilly 

 carried out by them, and all tlial \W\ ■.^]^\^y lor 

 to a scientific entoniologi>l is llie M-ientitic name 

 of the specimen. Butheic liis tlie dillieulty. In 

 a great many cases this name lannot be given 

 with any degree of ccrt^iinty, on ae( onnl of the 

 insufficiency or the absolute want of speeilic 

 descriptions. 



" If we have reason to rejoice at the h(!all,hy 

 direction American entomology is taking, it is 

 not without an eye to those, unfortunately very 

 miinerons, ]>ersoiis who seem to think that the 

 so-called desrriptivc entomology is the aim and 

 end of science. When a ChampoUion, or a 

 (Irotcfend attempt to study hycroglyiihic or 

 cuniform inscriiitioiis, do they look upon the 

 compilation of a dictionary of these modes of 

 writing as llie nllinialc aim of their eflbi-ts? It 

 is ('videiit thai the di<'lioiiary in this case is only 

 a stcppiiig-slone towards the real end iu view — 

 the bringing to liglit the treasures of facts buried 

 in ancient inscriptions. Descriptive natural his- 

 tory furnishes the dictionary of nature; it gives 

 names to objects, which without these names it 



would be impossible to designate. When a 

 gardener has observed the operations of some 

 noxious fly, he applies to yon for its name, be- 

 cause the knowledge of the name will enable hiin 

 to communicate to others the knowledge he has 

 acquired of the habits of the insect." 



INSECT SOUNDS. 



For many years it has been allemalely asserted 

 .and contradicted, that the Deal li\-liea<l Moth 

 (Acherontia atro2)os) possesses the power of 

 emitting sounds on certain occasions ; and re- 

 cently it has been contended that the cateriiillar, 

 and also the pupa of this moth, possess a similar 

 power. Newman, I believe, in his work on 

 " British Moths," brings forward authority to 

 prove it; and DeGeer, Reaumur, Kirby, and 

 other authors, believe in the fact. 



A correspondent of Science Gos.^iji, <>\'er the 

 signature of "A. Mercer," relates the following 

 circumstance, wliich would seem to settle the 

 question, lie states that he had placed the pupa 

 of A. atropos in some damp moss, and says : "In 

 this position it was kept for about two months, 

 dui'ing which time I repeatedly heard the noise. 

 On being touched it would emit a noi,sc resem- 

 bling llie cliirrup of the gras.shopper." 



Another correspondent states that he never 

 hcai-d the noise from the pupa, "but had fre- 

 quently heard a sound from the caterpillar. It 

 was generally short and .abrupt, like the tick of 

 a watch. I could a!wa\s iiulnee llic creature to 

 make a noise by fouehini: it v.iiIk r -iiiarlly with 

 the fuiger." Other loin'sponilenls lesiify to the 

 same thing, so there would seem to remain no 

 doubt that A. atropos emits sounds in every 

 stage of its existence. But is this power of 

 speech, as it may be called, peculiar to this in- 

 sect? Very unlikely. 



Another correspondent of Science Gossip says 

 that, "In several butterflies I have noticed that 

 when caught they have emitted a sound like that 

 of a blow-fly. Having caught a specimen of the 

 small Tortoise-shell (Vanessa articai), on pro- 

 ceeding to nip it near the nose, I Avas struck by 

 the sound it made, only diflfering iu intensity 

 from that made by a fly under similar circum- 

 stances." Here, however, I imagine the sounds 

 were occasioned by the vibration of the confined 

 wings. 



But that caterpillars are capable of making 

 sounds may be fully ascertained by almost every 

 one that possesses a grape-vine. The larva of 

 Thyreus Alibotii, as is generally well known, 

 has the habit, when touched, of violently jerking 

 itself, and bringing the head and tail nearly to- 



