630 THE SENSES AND SENSORY ORGANS. 
The great majority of insects probably hear sounds. Yet it is 
the exception to find highly complex organs on the surface of the 
body which can have the function of hearing ascribed to them. 
The membranous wings of insects are certainly well adapted 
to receive the vibrations of the atmosphere, and when we 
remember that in Fishes the vibrations of sound are not con- 
ducted to the internal ear by any special mechanism, it appears 
less improbable that the expanded surface of the wing should 
act as a recipient of sound vibrations. Will [805] concludes 
that each species of insect is limited in its responses to a 
very narrow range of sound perceptions, yet there is a very 
fine appreciation of minute differences within that range. For 
example, he is convinced that different species of Lamellicorns 
recognise their mates by the stridulations they produce, and 
also that they hear them at a distance at which they are quite 
incapable of being heard by the human ear ; and he states that 
whilst they are apparently deaf to all sounds except those 
which concern them, they at once respond to these if they are 
sufficiently well imitated by artificial means. 
When we remember the wide range of sounds which different 
insects produce, although the range of those which affect any 
one insect may be small, yet dissimilar insects must exhibit very 
different auditory powers ; and that this is really so is suggested 
by the very variable character of the auditory apparatus. 
Crickets appear to be but little excited by any sounds except 
those natural to the species. The notes of some insects are far 
more variable than those of others, and suggest a much wider 
range of auditory perception, and it is in such insects that 
we might expect the greatest complexity in the auditory 
mechanism. 
15. THE SENSE OF TASTE AND THE GUSTATORY ORGANS. 
That insects generally possess the sense of taste cannot be 
doubted, and Will [805] has shown that this sense is some- 
times very highly developed. He says: ‘ Of all the insects I 
experimented upon, a pair of Andrenas had perhaps the most 
acute sense of taste. They were very fastidious, and, as the 
