BUMBLEBEES repel creatures invading their nests with an ultrasonic hiss,
biologists in Germany have found.
Wolfgang Kirchner of the University of Konstanz and Jacqueline Röschard
of the University of Würzburg showed that the insects produce a conspicuous
hissing sound when disturbed, with harmonics of up to 60 kilohertz (Insectes
Sociaux, vol 46, p 239). The hiss drove off domestic mice sent into a
nest.
