Oct., '07] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 335 



An Insect Ventriloquist. 

 By A. N. Caudell, Washington, D. C. 



That man is not the only creature possessing ventriloquous 

 ability is a fact admitted by all students of nature. Many birds 

 are known to be excellent ventriloquists, and any person who 

 lias collected insects through the notes of their song knows 

 that many of our species are adepts in the art. Belonging to 

 the order ( )rthoptera are a number of species that, at times 

 at least, are not readily located by means of their stridulation. 

 Usually, however, a circular walk of fifty feet or so in diameter 

 will encompass the songster and quite accurately locate its 

 position. Rarely is a specimen found over a hundred feet or 

 so from its apparent position. 



The most extreme case of deceptive location of a singing 

 insect that ever came under my observation, and I have located 

 many a noisy orthopteron by its song, occurred on the evening 

 of August 2d, of last year. Dr. Dyar and I were stopping at 

 Longmire's Springs, at the base of Mt. Rainier, in Washington. 

 About dark, as we were strolling up the road through the forest, 

 we heard an insect stridulating by the roadside. I at once 

 recognized it as an orthopteron, but one whose note was un- 

 familiar to me. Both Dr. Dyar and I readily located its ap- 

 parent position in a small bunch of twigs not over eight feet 

 from us. Being very desirous of capturing the insect I 

 cautiously approached, but when I reached the spot where I 

 supposed the creature to be secreted the sound no longer seemed 

 to proceed from that point, but from an old stump a dozen 

 feet further on. This new position was carefully approached, 

 only to find the delusive sound moved to a point a few yards 

 still further on. 1 now proceeded to persistently follow that 

 spooky note from point to point, sometimes straight ahead 

 and sometimes to one side or the other, till a distance of over 

 two hundred yards was traversed. Dr. Dyar, lacking the en- 

 thusiasm of an Orthopterist in a quest of this nature, strolled 

 on, leaving me to pursue my ignis fatuus alone. My chase 

 led me over great stones, under fallen logs, across a ravine and 

 Up a steep hill. Darkness approached rapidly, the little light 



