Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1929-08-01
NATURE MONTH BY MONTH

department of zoology, Ohio Wes-
leyan University.
July-and the nightly serenade
which we now hear tells us that mid
summer is truly here. When clang-
ing street ears and honking automo-
biles are left behind, and when the
darkness falls, the little insect
troubadours which dwell among
grass and leaf strike up an ever
swelling chorus No vocalists are
these, whose notes are the metro
homes of night, but rather are they
instrumentalists, whose song varies
/ in tempo rather than pitch. It's
oft-repeated phrases come stealing
into our consciousness like the
stunning Of tiny stringed instru-
ments or the rhythmic clash of cas-
tanets.
to the spring song of the frogs,
| toads and tree-toads as an unusual
exhibition for cold-blooded verte-
brates, which are typically voiceless
1t is just as striking TO find among
the insects, usually so mute, a group
many of whose species are equipped
with sound-producing organs. Not
among the higher insects, such as
the flies, bees, wasps and ants, do we
( find these insect musicians, but in
the more Iowly group to which the
grasshoppers and crickets and their
relatives belong.
The true grasshoppers are sun
| lovers and reach their climax in the
parched fields of grass and stubble
in late summer. Most of us have
noted the cracking sound produced
by some of these fellows as they
poise on vibrating wings and then
drop to earth to blend their colors
with those of their surroundings.
Many of the other grass-hoppers
produce swapping or scratching
sounds when not in flight, but none
of them reach the high degree OF
sound production which is to be
found among the green meadow
grass-hoppers and their close rela
tives, the well-known katydids. Here
the males, who are the musicians,
are usually provided with a coarse
file formed by the veins at the bases
of the wings. The rasping notes
produced by rubbing these files to-
gether are often of surprising vol
ume. Among many species there
are quite distinct day and night
songs Sometimes even the shadow
of a cloud will cause the little sing
er to swing into the measures of the
night song, which differs quite
markedly in tempo from the song
heard by day.
The climax of sound production
is attained by the crickets. Even
our word cricket is from the French
"cricri," which is an imitation OF
their song. The European house
cricket, which has become a symbol
of domestic tranquility, is an insect
musician of ability, and even the
American field cricket, which often
invades our firesides is not to be
sighted in this regard, but the out
standing performer in the whole
group is the snowy tree cricket, of
which we have several species in
this part of the United States. The
note of the tree cricket is so loud
that it seems impossible that it could
come from so tiny creature. More
than once we have seen a room
carefully searched for the insect in
truder, who was meanwhile hidden
in a small bouquet of flowers on
table in the room.
One phase of the song of the tree
cricket is of more than usual inter-
est. Many years ago it was dis
covered that the rate of the chirp
was dependent upon temperature.
In fact, the correlation is so re-
markably close that it is interesting
to test its accuracy. Count the num-
ber of chirps in one minute. From
the number obtained take forty anu
then divide the remainder by four.
To the quotient add fifty and the re-
suit is the temperature In degrees
Fahrenheit. In these days of ther-
mometers it may not be necessary to
use so involved method and we will
usually find the mercury tube more
accessible than the tree cricket, but
| am not unmindful of certain Boy
Scout ordeal, which involves the use
of bow, spindle and tinder in a
world where match boxes are, to say
the least, quite common.
AUGUST-is here-the vacation
months. It's hot, dry days would
scarce betray the fact that the sun is
slowly deserting northern ATTITUDES,
yet the face of the fields shows us
that autumn is just around the cor
ner. Wild fruits and berries abound
on vines and shrubs. The nut trees
already foretell the seasons yield.
Northern resorts begin to reap a
harvest from goldenrod and rag
weed, and katydids predict the COM
ing of frost. Did you ever verify the
accuracy OF their prophecy? You
had better not try 1t, unless you
wish to lose your faith In the in