108 MR. MILLER CHRISTY ON THE 
Of the Cowslip, Darwin wrote in 1862 # :— 
What insects habitually visit Cowslips, as is absolutely necessary for their regular 
fertility, I do not know. I have often watched them, but perhaps not long enough ; 
and only four times I have seen humble-bees visiting them. One of these bees was 
gathering pollen from short-styled flowers alone; another had bitten holes through. 
the corolla; and neither of these would have been effective in the act of fertilization. 
Two others were sucking long-styled plants. 
Here, again, we find Darwin's earliest statement incomplete and valueless. 
Later, he extended and amended it several times T. His final statement t is 
to the effect that—- 
The flowers of the cowslip and of the other species of the genus secrete plenty of 
nectar; and I have often seen humble-bees, especially B. hortorum and muscorum, 
sucking the former in a proper manner, though they sometimes bite holes through 
the corolla. No doubt moths likewise visit the flowers, as one of my sons caught 
Cucullia verbasci in the act §. 
These observations of Darwin’s were (for him) remarkably incomplete ; 
for, as a fact, insects visit the flowers of our Primulas much more frequently 
than he realized. 
In a problem of such complexity, there is, I submit, no more hopeful 
means of reaching a solution than that of summarizing and reviewing 
in detail all the evidence available, in the hope that one may thereby 
guide some other observer into the right track ; and this, precisely, is my 
present aim. 
TI.— Observations on Insect Visitors. 
In three Tables which follow (each relating to a particular one of the three 
species of Primula concerned), I set forth in detail the results of my own 
personal observations, extending over rather more than forty years, on the 
different species of insects accustomed to visit each species. After each 
Table, I add, in brief, the observations of similar kind which have been 
recorded by others. 
Comment on all these various observations appears in Section VI. 
* Journ. Linn. Soc., Bot. viii. (1862), p. 85. 
+ See, for instance, idem, x. (1869), p. 438. 
t ‘ Forms of Flowers,’ p. 22 (1877). 
§ This is a common British moth, flying at dusk during April and May, when the 
Cowslip is in flower (see post., p. 116). 
