52 MANUAL OP THE APIARY. 



the sharp note of anger, the low hum of fear, and the pleas- 

 ant tone of a new swarm as they commence to enter their new 

 home. Now, whether insects take note of these vibrations, 

 as we recognize pitch, or whether they just distinguish the 

 tremor, I think no one knows. There is some reason to be- 

 lieve that their delicate touch-organs may enable them to dis- 

 criminate between vibrations, even more acutely, than can we 

 by use of our ears. A slight jar will quickly awaken a colo- 

 ny of hybrids, while a loud noise will pass unnoticed. If in- 

 sects can appreciate with great delicacy the different vibratory 

 conditions of the air by an excessive development of the 

 sense of touch, then undoubtedly the antenuge may be great 

 aids. Dr. Clemens thought that insects could only detect at- 

 mospheric vibrations. So, too, thought Linnaeus and Bonnet. 

 Siebold thinks, as the antennae receive but one nerve, and are 

 plainly touch-organs, they cannot be organs Of hearing. Kirby 

 has noticed that some moths turn their antennse towards the 

 direction from which noise proceeds, and thus argues that an- 

 tennae are organs of hearing. Grote, for a similar reason, 

 thinks that the densely feathered antennas of the males of 

 various night moths, serve both for smell and hearing. Prof. 

 A. M. Mayer and Mr. C. Johnson (see American Naturalist, 

 vol. 8, p. 574) have by various ingenious experiments, proved 

 conclusively, that the delicate, beautifully feathered antennae 

 of the male mosquito are organs of hearing. 



That insects have a very refined sense of smell is beyond 

 question. How quickly the carrion-fly finds the carcass, the- 

 scavenger the filth, and the bee the precious 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 en- 

 tered an open window in the second-story of a brick building. 

 How delicate must have been the sense by which they were 

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

 Bees, too, have been known to dash against a shutter behind 

 which were flowers, thus showing the superiority of their per- 

 ception of odors, as also their poor vision. But odors are^ 

 carried by the air, and must reach the insect through this me- 

 dium. Is it not probable, that the various breathing mouths 

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



