[NatureNS] Insect noises

From: David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>
To: NatureNS@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2015 11:44:26 -0300
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Dear All,                        July 28, 2015
    Some insects, e.g. Honey Bees, Bombus impatiens, and many more no =
doubt, make a characteristic noise when flying. With the advent of solar =
charged batteries and compact recording devices I am wondering if =
attempts have been made to e.g. record Honey Bee activity, as a function =
of temperature, humidity and wind speed, at sites of interest.=20
    And this brings to mind some observations which I made in 1961 when =
my ears were good; extracting/pasting from an e-mail of July 19, 2002--
 The weevil, Acanthoscelidius curtus (Say) [my collection number 365], =
(was) found July 9, 1961 on unexpanded racemes of Oenothera biennis =
(Evening-primrose).=20
    In addition to the not unusual response of hopping when disturbed, =
they also made a noise like a simmering pot when two or more were gently =
disturbed so they jostled=20
each other. A single beetle would make the noise if held by tweezers or =
glued to a pin and thus restrained from moving. The noise was associated =
with the up and down movement of the last three abdominal segments, =
which move as a unit and rub against the tips of the elytra. When these =
tips "...are shaved off, no noise is made even when the abdomen=20
oscillates violently."

    I have collected this beetle three times, always in the same =
micro-habitat [unexpanded racemes of Oenothera biennis =
(Evening-primrose)].=20

    If anyone with suitable recording equipment would care to record =
this sound then I will try to collect and send some of these weevils. =
Because this season is late they may still be around.

Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville
    
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<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1" =
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<DIV>Dear All,&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=20
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; July 28, =
2015</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some insects, e.g. Honey Bees, <EM>Bombus=20
impatiens</EM>, and many more no doubt, make a characteristic noise when =
flying.=20
With the advent of solar charged batteries and compact recording devices =
I am=20
wondering if attempts have been made to e.g. record Honey Bee activity, =
as a=20
function of temperature, humidity and wind speed,&nbsp;at sites of=20
interest.&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And this brings to mind&nbsp;some observations =
which I=20
made in 1961 when my ears were good; extracting/pasting from an e-mail =
of July=20
19, 2002--</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;The weevil, Acanthoscelidius curtus (Say) [my collection =
number 365],=20
(was) found July 9, 1961 on unexpanded racemes of Oenothera biennis=20
(Evening-primrose). </DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In addition to the not unusual response of =
hopping when=20
disturbed, they also made a noise like a simmering pot when two or more =
were=20
gently disturbed so they jostled <BR>each other. A single beetle would =
make the=20
noise if held by tweezers or glued to a pin and thus restrained from =
moving. The=20
noise was associated with the up and down movement of the last three =
abdominal=20
segments, which move as a unit and rub against the tips of the elytra. =
When=20
these tips "...are shaved off, no noise is made even when the abdomen=20
<BR>oscillates violently."</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; I have collected this beetle three times, always =
in the=20
same micro-habitat [unexpanded racemes of Oenothera biennis=20
(Evening-primrose)].&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If anyone with suitable recording equipment =
would care=20
to record this sound then I will try to collect and send some of these =
weevils.=20
Because this season&nbsp;is late they may still be around.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; =
</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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