Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-08
INSECTS THAT FIDDLE TUNES.
Grasshopper and Others of It's Species
Play Love Duets.
nth American

FROM the Philadelphia North American
The art of fiddling is not possessed by
man alone Insects of the field and forest
many of them harmless and others
classed in the category of pests-ilave a
little fiddle and bow of their own, and use
them to struIn their songs of love.
By means of their violin strings certain
insects call upon their tes give signals,
communicate intelligence and, perhaps,
give expression to their own little emo
lions.
They do not confine themselves to one
tune. In the daytime their trill is full of
Spirit and JOY; at night it takes on tinge
or melancholy and sombrsness Even dur
ing daylight hours. when a cloud obscures
the sun, their song changes from spright-
illness to one of sorrow.
Upon the tunes produced by the little
musicians depends the domestic happiness
of the insects The male alone fiddles and
If his love tune be true his chances of win
ming a noiseless bride are much better
Should his fiddle be out of tune or his song
be poor. ne liable to remain a disconso-
late bachelor.
The long horned grasshopper, or true
locust, and the common cricket are prob
ably the best known of all stimulating or
adding insects.
OF the long horned grasshopper the
katydid is a characteristic representation
The little musician is supplied with two
sets of wings. The outer and heavier ones
>.
make up the bow and fiddle
Near the base of these inner wings is
located a set of strong veins. By bringing
the veins on each wing into contact and
rubbing them together the song of the
locust is produced.
A talented musician of the orchestra va
riety is the common little grasshopper.
His fiddle is attached to one wing and he
uses his hind leg for bow. On this leg
is a line of little, beadlike prominences,
from each of which grows a number of
fine hairs When the grasshopper draws
this leg back and forth over the violin ar
rangement on his wings his love songs
swell out on the air.
The female grasshopper tries to initiate
her musical mate, and fiddles away with
yigor but for all that she is unable to
produce a single sound.
A natural musician, too, is the little
cricket. and his tune is generally louder
and more lovely than that of the locust
1t is said that the fiddling efforts Of some
of these little chaps have been heard at
least a mile from the place where they
were so industriouSly working
One tune by day asd another by night is
the program Of the cricket. He has even
been known to change the tune when the
sun has been temporarily obscured by
clouds. When approached he will cease
his musical strains. Sometimes, however
he has been fooled, and has permitted OBJ
serving scientists to get close to him and
watch him conducting his one instrument
orchestra
Fiddling, however, is not the only means
by which these musical insects serenade
their loved ones.
The seventeen-year locust. for instance
puts the melody of his soul into the rever-
berations of two abdominal drums.
These drumheads are tight. To each Is
attached a strong muscle which the insect
can tighten relax at will. The method
OF operation is similar to that of pressing
upon the bottom of a tin pan.
The most simple noise of all insects Is
that of the deathwatch beetle. This bug
gets It's name from the superstition that
some one who hears it's noise is soon to
die
It Is fond Of burrowing into old wood.
and for that reason is often found in old
buildings. about which more or less super
stition is apt to cling. The tapping noise
1t makes IS supposed to resemble the toll
ing of bells.
The dongicorn beetle produces a sharp
sound by the friction of the scaly covering
about its neck
All these insects are provided with mu-
steal arran gements that more less re-
scmble hddles. In fact. the fiddles of man.
no doubt. were first suggested by these lit
tie pedestrians of nature.