187s.] The Senses of the Lower Animals . 311 
subjects; the importunate or querulous hum of many 
Hymenoptera when angry ; and the wailing buzz of the 
common house-fly when captured in the web of a spider, on 
hearing which all other flies beat a retreat from the spot — 
all these instances of insedt-voiees and insedt-hearing are 
well known. But till very lately the vast majority of 
insedts and of other articulate animals were considered lite- 
rally dumb. Now, however, vocal powers are being disco- 
vered in spiders, scorpions, butterflies (hair-streaks), moths, 
beetles (Cychrus, Prionus, &c.), as well as in the groups 
formerly known to be noisy. Several V anessce — members of 
the group to which our common “ peacock butterfly ” and 
“red admiral ” belong — are known to stridulate, as also the 
Brazilian butterfly ( Ageronia feronia), and the moths Che- 
Ionia pudica and Euprepia rnatronula. The “ death’s-head ” 
(Sphinx Atropos) was formerly supposed to be the only Lepi- 
dopterous insedt capable of emitting any sound. The organs 
of sound are often very curiously constructed, and are pro- 
vided in some cases with a resonant cavity for the purpose 
of intensifying the effedt. If we further take into consider- 
ation the circumstance that the sounds produced by such 
minute animals may easily be too acute to be recognised by 
human ears, we shall not be far wrong in supposing that 
the majority of the Articulata can emit sounds at will, and 
that they therefore are probably endowed with the sense of 
hearing. 
It is to be remarked, however, that the recent discoveries 
of the produdtion of sound by insedts refer more to the soli- 
tary species than to such as live in organised societies. 
Ants have not hitherto been observed to utter any sound, 
save a kind of hissing when on the march. Their antennal 
language — whether or not we regard it, with Mr. Belt, as 
depending upon the produdtion and recognition of odours, 
or view it merely as a system of movements and touches, 
somewhat resembling our “ deaf and dumb alphabet ” — can 
scarcely be referred to sounds. The stridulation of solitary 
insedts is often, doubtless, a love-call ; often again, as in the 
scorpion, a note of defiance. Predatory insedts are doubt- 
less, like larger animals, often guided to their prey by the 
sense of hearing, and the feebler species may in some cases 
be made aware of the approach of danger. Gilbert White*' 
curiously enough accuses bees of deafness : — “ It does no 
appear from experiment that bees are in any way capable o 
being affedted by sounds ; for I have often tried my own 
* Selborne, Letter XXXVIII. 
