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Show '-T"m""'""" - J-gsr -' INSECTS THAT AtttfbsiCAL. 1 " v i All Are Tettora Mules ArsAlwny. the Musioianft DTvJ4c5Jn Two SesUons, yr - Musical Insect? of thp Wlngo1 tjpe m.iy be divided Into tw -groups: (1) TIiobo which do no ! use their whip and ty )), j which do, for tho production of ' Bonntl. Of tliclwo, tliolrittpi'fip. cIph is b. far the more HtniierouH A very curious fact !s flint nil n sfots arc tenors, deep bass voir. . being quite unknown; In ntfuMt on to this, the inah'H'nru alwnjro ih ItfrforniorH, femnle uisgccb belli; dumb contenting thoiusoivcs with stopping at homo and look ing after the ehildron Instead of standing nt the front door Btuginr like their IohIb and mas tor's, sin a the Helen tide American. Many insects sing by day; such, for instance, as the chiettndec. which, however, are not of the " I olinist" type, ns thoy piny upon a scries of hard plates attnanod to tho abdomen, much in flip aanic way ns a Spanish dnticer uhoh the castanets. Another ins,ecf ff this tyjm is the blnck field cricket, which has its homo in n Binnll careLke dwelling it prepares li'i the earth. Other Insects only sing by night such, for instance, as thedomes tic and tree crickets, whoso rcgu lar modulated notes are known to Miry one. The apparatus used b, these insects exactly resembles it violin, the abdomen being partial y endowed with small brigcllkf ?dges or ridges, ngnlntst which tin wings aro rubbed, thus producing the str'dent note chnr'aolerlstlo of the insect. Other insects, such ns jociiBla and their kin, have voritaUlfchows covered with fine rldgos and nt tached to the wings by two "but tonliko growths, Others have cavities coverod over with n'flne membrane which serve tho fthlci of resonators; in almost all-in sects of this type there is a parjji ment like part of the nbdoiftt'ii which acts as a knd of soiindteg board. Strange to say, many of these harmonious insects tire' do prived of hearing. Cricket", Haw -ver, are nb exception, as the; have sharp ears and cease ILef. vocal efforts at the sound of np proaching footsteps. Some fu sects, although apparently' deprived de-prived of iny means for the production pro-duction of sound, are none the less capable of making a noiso iu the world. A notable instance o this is to he found in a locust re joleinK in the euphonious nnme of Microcoutrum tetlnervis, which produces a short, monotonous note like two pieces of metal or dint rubbed together. 8o far the deld of insect voices has not been widely explored. It would be interesting to study them from the- point of view of musical notation, and also to determine de-termine whether their song altera in nn'y wny according to the season, sea-son, hour of the day, age of the insect in-sect and meteorological conditions. condi-tions. ' |
