The Brookhaven leader., 1883-08-09
The Senses OF Insects.

A writer in the New Orleans Times
Democrat on the senses of insects saws
there is good reason to believe that they
possess all the ordinary senses of man.
Lime and others of the old school, how
ever, thought them deprived of hearing;
but numerous observations prove the
contrary. That they hear even in their
larva state is evident from facts stated
not only by Psychologists but by numer-
Gus observations made by myself |
found once that the sound of my voice
evidently affected some caterpillars,
which ! attribute to the delicacy of their
sense of touch; at another time, when
some caterpillars of q different species
were moving swiftly, l rang small
bell, upon which they instantly stopped
and moved the interior part of their
bodies very briskly. That they possess
this faculty in their image state is con-
firmed still more strongly by facts. l
once was observing the motions of
snout-beetle (curculio) whose Larvae de-
voured the roots of our palmetto; upon
my making slight but distinct noise,
its antenne started. l repeated the eff
feet. A ground-bcetle of considerable
size, hunting some caterpillarS from the
trunk of a live-oak tree in the old City
Park, answered the sound in the same
manner repeatedly. Flies, | have OBJ
served, at brisk and distinct sounds,
move all their legs, and spiders will
quit their prey and retire to their
hidiug-placeS. Insects that live in
society give notice of intended move
ments, or assemble their citizens for
emigration by a certain hum. But the
most satisfactory proof of hearing of
these animals is to be had from the
grasshoppers, crickets, etc, and cicadas,
whose males are vocal. kept and fed
several katydids in a cabinet, which
were very merry, and continued sing
ing all the time but a rap at the door
would stop them instantly. Bypractice
learned to initiate their chirping; when
/ did this at the door at first few
would answer me in low note, and
then the whole party would take up the
tune and sing with all their might. ]
once shut up male in the garden, and
gave the female her liberty: but as soon as
she heard the male chirp she flew to him
Immediately. The antennH of insects
are analogous to ears in vertebrates.
Their number corresponds; they also
stand out from the head; and what has
weighed most with me, unless they are
allowed as such no other organ can
have any pretensiOn to be considered As
presenting the ear. If we reflect that,
in every other part and organ the head
of insects has an analogy to that of
mammalia, we must regard it as i'm
probable that these prominent organs
should not also have their representa-
tive. Admitting, then, that they are
the analOgues of ears, it will follow
their primary function is related to
hearing.
But besides receiving notices from
the atmosphere of sound, and of the
approach or proximity of other insects,
etc, the antenn1 are probably the or
gans by which insects can discover al
terations in its state, and foretell by
certain prognostics when a change of
weather is approaching. Bees possess
this faculty to an admirable degree.
When engaged in their daily labors. if
a shower is approaching, though we
can discern no signs of it, they foresee
it and return suddenly to their hives.
If they wander far from home and do
not return until late in the evening, it
is u prognostic to be depended upon
the following day will be fine; but if
they remain near their habitations, and
are seen frequently going and return
ing, although no other indication of
wet should be discoverable, clouds will
soon arise and rain come on. Ants also
are observed to be eXcellently gifted in
this respect; though they daily bring
out their Larvae to sun them, they are
never Overtaken by sudden showers
Previously to rain, as you well know,
numberless insects seek the house;
then the stomoxys calctrans, leaving
more ignoble prey, attack us in cur
apartments, and interrupt our studies
and meditations.
The insects of prey also foresee the
approach of wet weather, and. the acc
cess of flies, etc, to places of shelter.
Then the spiders issue from their lurk-
iDg-places, and the ground-beetles or
carabi in the evening run about our cot
tages.
Passive antenn@, which are usually
furnished with a terminal or lateral
bristal, and plumose and pertinated
ones, seem calculated for the electric
and other fluids dispensed in the atmos-
phere, which in certain states and pro-
portions may certainly indicate the ap-
proach of a tempest, or of showers, or
of rainy seasons, and may so affect these
organs as to enable the insect to make
a sure prognostic of any approaching
change, and we know of no other organ
that is so likely to have this power. l
say electric fluids because, when the at
mosphere is in a highly electrified state
and tempest is approaching is the
time when insects are usually most
abundant in the air, especially toward
the evening, and many species may
then be taken which are not at other
times to be met with; but before the
storm comes on all disappear, and you
will scarcely see single individual on
the wing. This seems to indicate that
insects are particularly excited by cleo
tricity.