Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 1928)
THE EVENING HERALD, KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON Friday, &'tomW 21, l!)2ft Their ii 'i HS' 1 mm "imi VP1, MrV 1 V . V HH.tV.4 . . .1.4.' & . ' ront c . .. . e ow a ocientist o taged yonceits v; Page Eight Legs .. . i i - - i 1 - 1 " "" " - rvj -' I-a f I 1. vvk)k K. U X n 'mil. rf V . - 13 . 'V. A. w X luvt A lint w. v.v - ,vjr i x v a -w k x 0 Kfliy lids, Crickets Dioving of a katv- did dotting I oca tion of ear. . . Right, a photograph cf the ear anJ a much enlarftd dia gram of the organ. k w w Bv MARJORIE MacDILL 'HEN die great katydid chorus breaks loose in the tree- top on the moonlight mghtt of August, presaging thereby, according to the folklore of the country, a frost in six eks. tew in the audience realize that the synchronism ! ; of the insect orchestra is maintained by a complicated ' little mechanism on the green fiddlers' fore limbs. 1 For science has established that katydids hear with their front legs. ) The whole question of how insects hear, see, smell and otherwise j exercise their sensory functions has been the occasion of much learned entomological wrangling. Some have even declared that they did not hear at all. But an enterprising young entomologist at Iowa Slate College, who has recently moved la the State .College of Agriculture j ' of North Carolina Dr. B. B. Fulton by name decided to settle the ' question by actual experiment. , j .There are on the front pair of kg of certain insects of the grass- ' hopper type, organ similar in structure to those used for hearing in higher animals. Only the species having stridulatory or singing organs have also the tympani on the foremost pair of legs. Whether they j actually serve this purpose or not. however, has been disputed vigor- I . pusly. , .i , , ; Close comparison of concerts participated in both by de-legged per- i formers and those with the full complement of extremi- .! ties was the method chosen by Dr. Fulton for "getting I the dope" on the green winged violinists. .. SINGING ORG AM The fact that certain species of l singing Urthoptera (.the name given . by-scientists to insects . of the grassr I hopper type) synchronize their notes seemed to me conclusive . evidence that 1 they could hear each other." Dr. Ful- . ton explains. "Such a simultaneous I sounding of note could hardly be a matter of accident. Neither is it an auditory illusion as some writers have claimed. .. . " ,. . ; i "While studying the songs of the tree cricket and a couple of other singing insects, I was impressed with the idea, that here was excellent material , for testing the auditory powers of the tympani on the foremost legs. ' ' Accordingly I set about collecting males' of all such species as were available in my. locality." THE first demonstration was staged with 10 male katydids of a ; sort commonly found on the prairie;. ' They were placed in a , cage where night after night they exhibited almost perfect syn chronization. , "This insect." says Dr. Fulton, "starts singing in the afternoon and as -evening approaches the number of singers increases. The song is under ordinary conditions a series of 20 to 30 short metallic rasps at the rate of four per second. Each series of notes lasts about five to seven seconds and is followed by a period of rest of about five seconds. vThe synchronization of my. 10 caged singers was practically per fect ' The song of the group was continuous and as each individual started its series of notes anew it wculd fall in with the general cadence. It was only by detecting slight variations in the quality and volume of I the chorus that one could be aware of the pauses in the individual songs. "After observing tlte Jong of the whole group for two nights I re moved four males to another cage at some distance from the first and : cut off their front pair of leg; close to what corresponds to the thigh. For the two following nights only one of the mutilated katydids was ' heard singing at one time.. On the third night two sang more or less continuously. -" The notes, were not synchronized except as they hap pened to sound together at times. "The two males happened to have lightly diRerent normal rates so that if they started their series of notes in unison they would usually be sounding them alternately at the clo:c. I observed 36 con--' secutive periods when both males were singing at once and of i these there were only two when the notes did not interfere ' at some time, during the period. ! . "Following these observations I went back to the cage of 1 normal insects and listened carefully to four singers for 10 min- ' utes. " During this time th;re were only two short intervals ' during which a few notes were sounded nut of cadence as one i of the singers began a series of notes. - ' "In order to be doubly sure lint my senses did not deceive me I requested someone who had no knowledge of the experi ment to listen for a few minutes at each cage to see if they could detect any difference, in ihe songs. This observer noted at once that the song was rhythmical and synchronized in the first cage but not in the second." ' , and Grasshoppers the Sm.em.e Insects ist 'Below the JCnee TYMPANUM OR EARDPUM NERVE TO BRAIN v BRANCH NERVE TO StNSOfW Oil SENSORY CELLS ARPANGED IN A ROW. EXPANDED PORTIONS OF A'R TUf2S WHICH 6UPPLV C-CY&EN TO HOOY FPOM CENTRAL AIR CHAMBERS rii-iUnriii-Jri aiasti . MIS in a in gr a it hopper. . . jhou'ing his ear tearing orccji. .'SUSPENDING-LIGAMEMT NERVE FIBRE "THROUGH CAVITY FILLED WITH LIQUID AUDITORY PEGS STRETCHED THE next batch of victims were sr.owy tree crickets, the collective authors of that shrill melody of sound that seems to come from nothing out of everywhere out-of-doors on summer evenings when rite shr.dsv.s Lc7in to darken. This music is probably the rr.o:i familiar ol all insect sounds but the musicians themselves are little known to the public. - They were divided in Iwa lot; li!:; their p;cdcccsjors and put into separate rages. , - "After waiting a few davs," Dr. Fullsn went on, to see that both cages contained willing risers, 1 amputated the fore limbs of one lot and removed their cng: from ihe vicinity ol the other lot. The results wit c::5ntia!ly the same a with the preceding experiment. When or.ly two of the mutilated males were singing at once tlir cflcct was that of being synchron ous at regular interval-; srpnrotrd by periods during which the notes sounded alternately. Each cricket sanr; at its own in dividual rate uninfluenced by tl:e sonr; of others in the lame cage. When three or m?re mutilated males, were singing at once an utter confusion of notes re:ultcd. , "The song of the normal tree crickets in the other cage pre sented a striking contrast. Each individual scunded its notes in. unison with other:, a if a single cricket ivcrc sinking." The third insect used in the sen:s. a c'asshonper of the. plains known as the Nebraska conchend, proved to be the most remarkable synchronic of all. i "Their song," says the entomc';-;is:, "ccnsisli cl raspi: buzzing notes each lasting a little ever a '.e-?nd and separated by about equal intervals of silence. 1 he length ol the notes and their low frequency makes this species an easy enc to study. "I placed my quarry ol four in individual ca.iej and sepa rated them into two group: which v.tr: kq;t cut of hearing . '"' ."- :- - " 1. tr w i r r ' w s conehead... , . . ; , M ilia A' "" ' LisemiIong- . i - iO" , ... legged Tela- -. variations, K.ly, Kaly didn t. uVet, he hears '. -f With nit kp. Wj :4 .. .The katvd'ds. .: are the oris- rr X iSiL evA' . ' locrati among all the nunieroui ..v.-jJC. .-jCTjWf -f this correlation is very evident, always. -iSts- ff' fc-jfiPZ- IXk When neighboring crickets are synchron- : Jtv t'&r V. '''r' Dr. Fulton ints out. they adiusl ' i awu-. tr :'S-. their individual rales to meet jftf I " JX 'mn X the needs of the choru-. LtP 1 y X V' ,' , though tills adjustment is Cf -f 44cai'". ;' w: ' possible only to the extent ol 3 'i J Al t , ' a few notes per minute. I 1 W. I 'X' - . . 1 have Hound, he acJUrd. i Jyr , ' tjiJ'vS. i. ( T -'. v ' cricket there is such a thing aSt I-t i iV ' as a geographical variation 1 " '. f' "f-,t"r J 'n on- 1" general the j Dr. B. B. Fullon. fji. $.''""?&:. ' "' 1" JL ' I frequency of notes at the JtcJ entomologist. . . " " r Mj-i . I ' Sv I ame ,crnP"',,ure increases amputated kat$- FN f-'JL''--:-- V one 'rom 10 iff didt legi. made . - . T ' v ' 'vl9V ' ' bave r, 'n'n tliem deaf. V A,V ' "; v J -" M-- ' crickets from Ohio. Ari- lirjutr , - torn and Oregon caged side . 'a-2"""'" by side and it was interesting The criclett, lil(C their grauhopper cousins. . . I fOl fiddle with their vingt, hear with their front legt. 1 1 JPfA Ws . Singing RGAi -rr-f-, yoiw. Ksuzsmsiis insects Droduced can hardlv be a mailer of accident. Dr. sufficient adjust- D".,e w"n I B V .' V II II k. B L, W C C.rauhappcrt ihcJ their il.ini foul" nWi before then me groan up. . . Here are four cuif-ojf suits vf ciirfer-totiti. sideways, llie file grales on ihe ridse or scraer causing a rasping sound, ami this is the way ihe katydid pioduce its famous song. The lone and the volume are prubably due largely, however, lu ihe thin mrmbranes in ihe base of ihe vinn. The inilcuinrnlt of ihe dilferetil families rff songilei vary stimevlul in lite details but in uenei.il the noles pro duced by the dilferent owner have a range out of all proportion to the vanuliuiis in tlie musical au- , paratus. I he memlier of ihe numeroui katydid clan srirnlivls I y ihe mellifluous name of I'leio- phylla camrllilohi. helhri he is a gieat l..'inic i.in or not drpendi on llie ienonal tasle u f the critic, but of lilt known l.ir and wide to llie AmeiKsn public as the gie.itet of imect singers, is called by from each other. - After testing all of them for syn chronism, which proved to be perfect, the front legs were removed from two of them. "On the second evening after the 'operation' both coneheads were singing with conspicuous lack of co-ordination. For about a minute at a time the notes of the two would sound alternately, then gradually one song would catch up to the other so that for another similar period the notes would sound simultaneously. "At the same time the normal coneheads were keeping up perfect synchronism. Sometime one note could be observed lo start a fraction of a second ahead of the other but never once did I hear them entirely separated." a simultaneous sounding of notes as the uninjured insects produced can hardly be a matter of accident. Dr. rulton declares, and appears to be conclusive evidence that ihey can hear, each other. The structures in the tympanum on the leg, believed to be actually responsible for hearing, resemble exceedingly minute pegs. Each one is hollow and filled with a watery liquid and has an axis-fiber or nerve-fiber running through it. The end of the fiber nearest the body connect with the insect' central r.ervous system. . The structure of these organ led early investigators to be lieve dial they were hearing organs, though actual demonstration has been lacking until now.. Structure containing auditory regs have been found in a number of 'other insects, including the male mosquito. Another interesting act about the music of the Orthoptera :t the! the pitch and also the frequency of note vary directly with the temperature just a the speed of a chemical reaction does. Since the insect do not regulate their body temperature like the warm-blcoded animals, their rate of metabolism is sub ject to the whim of the weather. With insect like the nowy tree cricket, which sing a continuou rhythmical series oi notes, to hear them try to synchronize. Their natural rate of song were so different that they found it im possible to make sufficient adjustment." The snowy tree cricket. . liAc- Bise sings with hit minis, lists vilh hit limbs. aristocracy among the IC'uii) rlglit, i'l'.S, NKA aiuicasiiie auil Htiincs WtrvkcJ THE katy dids, however, constitute the real singer ot tne iix-ieggea insects. . , . In Europe the true katydid, so common in America, is un known, his family being limply styled the long-horned grass hopper to distinguish them from their short-horned heavy bodied brethren, who also are singer, but less notably so. Their musical instruments are located on the overlapping bases of the front wing. They are the special gift of Ihe malei. the females having to content themselves with the primitive wing structure common to the rest of the Orthoptera group. The fore part of the right wing of the favored sex con:i(s of a thin crisp membrane with a slid ridge on ihe basal ant ic. On the left wing one of the veins 'i thickened into a close srrirs of ridges on the under tide, which convert it into a veritable file. The wings of katydids are always folded with the If 1 1 over lapping the right in such a position that the file of ihe lormn lies above the ridge of the latter. When the wings arc mouj fame theie is no question. ( erlainly nothing could Ih- plainer than his voci fnous "Kalydid" with its endle repeiiiiins and Kaly she did." HOUGH the audience of the katydij lis a v.ide range, few claim the privilege of personal acquaintance. Irom the fact lh.it he has selected (or Im s.v.e the lalleit tree tips ai. cJ seldom descends from his thoien oichf.tra chile. Country-raised beys and girls and hard -hunti'ig fi"ld en torr.olcgi'ti know liim. but not ni my more. In color he 14 plain rreen wiih a dirk hruvn lii.myle on the luck catering llie ilrid.il.itMig .nea cl ihe wirp. I In body i fully one and thiee i;u.Mters iixhea li nn while his h'nn hair-like anlerinae measure well o;er lv.o and a h.ill inches. The rear edgis of llie leal ;ieen wiiijis are evenly lounded with 1 1 , r sides plumped out as il to roter a corpulent rotund body. I hit is a f.'.lse alarm, however, for the i.pace lielween leni is mostly empty and prnliahly lnrnis a r--, ,iuncc dumber to give tune and volume In his muMCrl erlonii.ince.. 1 ie has a row of prominent wartcoat buttons down his front, nr rather his undrrntalh. that ihythmUuily hr.ive and sink with e-ch breath. Another insert sinrer much in the public eye is the black field cricket, a friendly soul of gaiden and d mryard, not averse lo taking rcfuvre in the hnure ilsrlf rn cool mil'itmi evenings. His I urrp:.in cousin n ihe famous cricket on the he-rth of llieken' Mory. I he ancient Greeks and H'vT.ani c.ille j him Gryllui, a l.ame which he heirs lo this day. I lis muMc.il organs are much like the k itydidi'. I nt, unlike the latter, he has them c,iuy developed nn each wing, so llut he can apparently pl.iy with either vvinit uppermost, though in actual puclire 4noil crickets consis tently wear the liiihl wing uppermost, just the reverse of ihe katydid custom. 'I he snowy Irre cricket that played a prominent role in Dr. Fulton' concerts is really green, but of such a pale shade that he looks while nt night. In the g;een nut of-doors orchestra on warm sum mer nislils. a careful listener, may dis tiniMiiih a short brat repeated a hundred or m ire limes a minute. This strenuous perfoiman.ee is produced by this pale little fhosl of an insect no more than hall an inch long. Ihe singer raise his wings vertically above the back and vibrates them sideway so rapidly that they are momentarily blurrrd with each note. He repeats regu larly and monotonously all night along, and by some people is cursed ns a pest, When he first begin singing in July there are about 125 beat per minute, but later on hot nights the rate will go- at high as ' 200. As fall come on it drcrcares to around 100 and finally as the nights grow cold, the note end in hoarse bleat repealed slowly and tremulously thpugh dill rhythmically as if the sintrer were numb with cold nr pain. With the cr.ming of the first frosts ihey die. away altogether. , ... Il is probable that further experiments will be made lo learn . bout the strangely placed and curiously constructed ear that the katydids and certain of their relatives are now known to have. Recently, it has been shown that various moths and certain lyprs of butterflies appear to perceive sounds, and caterpillar, of . at leist (wo sperirs have been lound lo react to sound ' None of the in-ecls used in Dr. Fulton's c::prrirr.fnls seemed rjrcally disturbed by the lots of their front legr,ji:(ir those oper ated upon lived as long as those whore legs were kept intact, a condiiinn which aitpies in favor of llu olt-rcpratcrl statement llut inti'Cti are not very sensitive to pain. And besides, grass li.j pcrs, when tr. pped, uflrn kick their lejj oil,1 - . '
