94 
NATUBAL HISTOEY OE 
no idea. During one part of the day nothing *b 
heard but a loud and uninterrupted rustling or 
humming noise, in which the harsh and deafening 
notes of the Cicadae predominate.* One cannot 
move a step nor touch a leaf without seeing insects 
take flight from all quarters. The herbaceous plants 
are literally covered with brilliant beetles ; and the 
slender twigs of the mimosa , on which they live in 
society, appear to bend under the weight of dia- 
mond-beetles (JEntimus imperialis and nobilis). 
This teeming exuberance is most striking in the 
morning, before the sun has evaporated the dews of 
the night. Towards the approach of mid-day the 
heat becomes insupportable, and all animated nature 
sinks into repose. The din ceases, and insects, as 
well as other animals, seek the freshness of the 
shade, from which they do not again emerge till the 
approach of night has cooled the thirsty air. To 
the species of the morning then succeed a multitude 
of others, many of which, and these too of the 
largest and most remarkable kinds, are seldom ob- 
served but in the evening twilight. Then also 
the night-eyed insect tribes 
Wake to their portion of the circling hours. 
* “Captain Hancock informs me that the Brazilian 
Cicadas sing so loud as to be heard to the distance of a 
mile. This is as if a man of ordinary stature, supposing 
his powers of voice increased in the ratio of his size, could 
be heard all over the world. So that Stentor himself be- 
comes a mute when compared with these insects .” — Kirby 
and Spence's Intro, to Entom . ii. 404. 
