Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1893 — HOW INSECTS MAKE MUSIC. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HOW INSECTS MAKE MUSIC.

The Katydid Elevates His Wing Covers and Rubs the Plates Together. Everybody is familiar with the music of the katydid. It is the male that has the voice. At the base of wing cover is a thin membraneous plate. He elevates the wing covers and rubs the two plates together. If you could rub your shoulder blades together you could imitate the operation very nicely.. Certain grasshoppers make a sound when flying that is like a watchman’s rattle —clacketyclack, very rapidly repeated. There are also some moths and butterflies which have voices. The death’shead moth makes a noise when frightened that strikingly resembles

the crying of a young baby. How it is produced is not known, though volumes have been written on the subject. The “mourning cloak” butterfly —a dark species with a light border on its wings—makes a cry of alarm by rubbing its wings together. The death watch is a popular name applied to certain beetles which bore into the walls and floors of old houses. They make a ticking sound by standing on their hindlegs and knocking their heads against the wood quickly and forcibly. It is a call. Many superstitions have been entertained respecting the noise produced by these Insects, which sometimes is imagined to be a warning of death.

THE KATYDID.