NOISES OF INSECTS.- 387 
milar noise from within it. But the species whose pro- 
ceedings have been most noticed by British observers is 
A. tessellatum, F. When spring is far advanced, these 
insects are said to commence their ticking, which is only 
a call to each other, to which if no answer be returned, 
the animal repeats it in another place. It is thus pro- 
duced. Raising itself upon its hind legs, with the body 
somewhat inclined, it beats its head with great force and 
agility upon the plane of position; and its strokes are so 
powerful as to make a considerable impression if they 
fall upon any substance softer than wood. ‘The general 
number of distinct strokes in succession is from seven to 
nine or eleven. They follow each other quickly, and are 
repeated at uncertain intervals. In old houses, were 
these insects abound, they may be heard in warm wea- 
ther during the whole day. The noise exactly resembles 
that produced by tapping moderately with the nail upon 
the table; and when familiarized, the insect will answer 
very readily the tap of the nail?. 
The queen bee has long been celebrated for a peculiar 
sound, producing the most extraordinary effects upon her 
subjects. Sometimes, just before bees swarm,—instead, 
of the great hum usually heard, and even in the night,— 
if the ear be placed close to the mouth of the hive, a 
sharp clear sound may be distinguished, which appears 
to be produced by the vibration of the wings of a single 
bee. This, it has been pretended, is the harangue of the 
new queen to her subjects, to inspire them with courage 
to achieve the foundation of a new empire. But Butler 
* Shaw’s Nat. Misc. iii. 104. Phil. Trans. xxxiii, 159, Compare 
Dumeril Traité Element, ii, 91. n. 694. 
CA (OY 
