Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-15
a Sixth Sense In Insects ~

luldl ltOd VI al tti tttiAl liAstNt" - -
caterpillar without the supply of
which the insects cannot attain matu-
rity. There is nothing outside, nothing
at least perceptihle 10 the eye To in
dicate its hiding place. The soil that
conceals it may be grassy or bare. peb-
bly, or earthly. smooth or scanned with
little cracks. These varieties of ap-
pearance are matters of Indifference To
the hunter, who prospects every spot
without showing preference for one
more than the others. At no place
where the insect, which is a kind OF
bee, stops and digs with some persis-
teucy do ! see anything particular, in
spite of all my attention; and yet
there must be q gray worm there. as
/ have bus recently convinced myself.
Sight, therefore, is certainly out OF the
question.
What sense, then? That Of touch
Let us inquire. Everything tells us
that the organs of search are the an
tennae. With their tips. bent into an
arc and inspired with a continual Vi
bration. the insect feels the ground,
quickly, with little taps. When some
crack offers, the quiperins threads en-
ter anu SOuflu 1t W Ilt-H SoiHC StstsS luIl
spreads its tangled root-stack along
the ground, they rummage its asperi-
ties with increased agitation. Their
tips are applied for a moment, mold
ing themselves SO tC speak. on the
ksp9t explored, costing Two tactic
filaments two long terminal organs
endowed with Incompatible mobility,
which investigate by flmbling. But the
sense of touch can play no part IN re-
vealing what is underground; the
thing to be found is the gray worm
and the worm is lying snug in its bur
row, at a depth of some inches below
the surface
We thereupon turn our thoughts to
the faculty of scent. Insects, there is
nc denying, possess the sense of smell,
often very highly developed. The 500
called buryng beetles hasten from
every side To the Spot where lies a lit
tie corpse. of which the ground is to be
purged. Guided by scent, these grave
tiiegers hurry toward the dead mole
But, while the presence of the olfae-
tory sense in the insect is indisputable.
we still ask ourselves where it is seat
ed. Many declare that the seat is in the
antennae. Let us admit this. although
it is difficult 10 understand how rod
consisting of horny segments. jointea
end to end, can fulfill the office of a
nostIil which is so very differently
constructed. The organization of each
apparatus having naught in common
with. the other, eanthe impressions re-
| ceiyed BY both be of the same nature
When tools are dssimilar. do their
| functions remain alike?
| But there is more to be said; the oil
factory sense goes for nothing where
| the gray Worm for myself, have Civ
en- it to young nostrils to sniff, nostrils
more sensitive than mine: not one oil
us has perceived the faintest trace OF
a smell in the caterpillar and / ask
| myself how that which is einodorous al
| the very entrance 10 our Dostrils can
| be odiferous To an insect through the
| intervening obstacle of the ground
When the burying beetles pour into
| the chalice of a carrion scented arum
| lily never to return; when swarms oi
| flies huzz around q dead dog the whole
| neighborhood reeks with the stencil. II
| hardly requires scent Of exquisite ac-
curacy on the insects part to discover
putrid meat and rotten cheese. Wher-
| ever we see its hordes gather, with
scent for their undoubted guide, we
ourselves are cognizant of smell.
| There remains hearing. This is an.
other sense about which entomologists
are not adequately informed Where
is its seat? In the antennae, we are
] fnln Those cta
would seem fairly well suited to bt
] put in motion under the impulse OF
| sound In that case, the insect, ex.
| plaring the region with it's antennae
! would be warned of the presence Of
the gray worn by slight noise coming
up from the ground, the noise of tn,
nlandibles nibbling root, the nois;
of the caterpillar wriggling it's body
What faint sound and how Difficult
to transmit through the spongy cush
| ion of the earthi
1t is less than faint; it is nonexis
tent. The gray worm is Nocturnal il
its habits. BY day it skulks in its clap.
per and does not stir. | does not nibblt
either; at least, all the gray worms
which ! have unearthed at the tim
when the insect was hunting wer
nibbling nothing, for the simple rea
son that they had nothing to nibble
They were in layer of earth devoi
of roots, completely motionless an
therefore, silent The sense of hearin
must be set aside with that of smell
| Inclined as we are-and it could no
well be otherwise-to judge all thing
by our standard, we allow animals ou
own means of perception and do no
dream that they might easily posses
others on which ii is impossible for u
to have an exact idea, because Their
is nothing like them in us. Are w
quite certain that they are not equiv
ped, in varying degrees, with a vie'
; to sensation as foreign to oul
selves to the sensation of colors woul
:, he if we We're blind? Has matter n
secrets left for us? Are we SO yer
sure that it is revealed only by ligh
| sound, taste, smell and touch? Phys
: les and chemistry, young though the
be, already declare to us that the III
| known darkness contains an enormot
. harvest in comparison wherewith oil
scientific crop is the merest penur
A new sense would open to our scare
= word which our physical structul