48 Seme- of Smell. 



of ants, and on the tibise of" ants and other insects, which are 

 possibly auditory organs. 



That insects have a very refined sense of smell is beyond 

 question. The carrion-fly quickly finds the carcass, the scaven- 

 ger the filth, and the bee the nectar. 



I have reared female moths in my study, and have been 

 greatly surprised, on the day of their leaving their cocoons, to 

 find my room swarming with males. These bridegrooms 

 entered an open window in the second-story of a brick build- 

 ing. How delicate must have been the sense by which they 

 were led to make the visit, and thus made to grace my cabinet. 

 Male moths have been known to come down chimney to reach 

 the females. Bees have been known to dash against a shutter 

 behind which were flowers, thus showing the superiority of 

 their perception of odors, as also their poor vision. But odors 

 are carried by the air, and must reach the insect through this 

 medium. Is it not probable that the various breathing mouths 

 of insects are also so many noses, and that their delicate lining 

 membranes abounding with nerve filaments, are the great odor 

 sentinels ? This view was maintained by both Lehman and 

 Cuvier, and explains this delicate perception of scents, as the 

 breathing mouths are large and numerous, and most so in 

 insects like bees and moths which are most sensitive to odors. 

 Bees quickly notice the scent of a strange bee or queen, or the 

 peculiar odor of the venom. I have known a bee to sting a 

 glove, and in a trice the glove would be as a pin-cushion, with 

 stings in lieu of pins. Sometimes the bees will dart for many 

 feet, guided by this odor. Yet the odor is very pungent, as I 

 have frequently smelt the poison before* I felt the sting. Sir 

 John Lubbock's experiments with ants show that with them as 

 with bees, the sense of smell is highly developed. I have 

 tried the experiments of Huber and Lubbock, and know that 

 such insects as bees and ants will take no note of food after 

 the loss of their antennas. But we must remember that this 

 is a capital operation. With loss of antennse, insects lose con- 

 trol of their motions, and in many ways show great disturb- 

 ance. Is it not probable that removing the antennse destroys 

 the desire for food, as does amputation with ourselves? Kirby 

 believes, with Huber, that there is a' scent organ. Hubei's 

 experiments on which he based this opinion are, as usual, very 

 interesting. He presented a coarse hair dipped in oil of tur- 



