66 
the family also. As Mr. Meehan remarks in the same number of the 
Bulletin, this lawless trait of the humble-bee may be easily observed. 
It is an acquired habit, and one that has not yet reached its fullest 
development, for, while some species of flowers are invariably punc- 
tured, others, which are even more difficult of access, are approached 
in the legitimate manner and are never mutilated. In some localities, 
hardly an individual of Gerardia integrifolia will escape being punct- 
ured, and always, so far a"s I have observed, in the same relative por- 
tion of the corolla. In both cases, too, the corolla is bored before its 
lobes have been unfolded; yet not all the bees seem to understand 
this, for while by far the greatest numbers fly at once to the puncture 
made by some previous visitor, others will visit every flower in the 
regular manner, showing that some understand the operation while 
others do not. Again, although the Gerardia is commonly punctured, 
it has a comparatively open and accessible corolla, and, on the other 
hand, the corolla of Linaria vulgaris^ which is thoroughly closed, is, 
I believe, never punctured, though the bees visit it in numbers and 
are forced to no slight exertion to reach its interior. 
To me the interpretation of these facts is that while there is the 
appearance of a purpose in the act, yet it is in the main a blind oper- 
ation on the part of the bees, and, in any event, they fail to derive the 
greatest possible benefit from their work, when they persist in boring 
an open corolla and approach a closed one in the laborious manner 
which its peculiar mechanism demands. 
Mountainville, N. Y. Winthrop E. Stone. 
■ 
Dicentra Punctured by Humble-Bees.— In the last number of the 
Bulletin, (p. 55) Prof. W. Whitman Bailey, of Rhode Island, says': 
** I find that in my garden the flowers o{ Dicentra Cuctillaria are sys- 
tematically punctured by humble-bees; I have watched them in the 
process. Has this been noticed when the plants are growing wild? 
It sadly interferes with the very neat mechanism for cross-fertiliza- 
tion/' 
Several years ago Dr, A. K. Fisher called my attention to the fact 
that humble-bees were in the habil of obtaining honey from this spe- 
cies by biting through the base of the corolla; and I have since ob- 
served that, along the borders of the Adirondack region, in North- 
eastern New York, it is the exception to find a mature flower of either 
Dicentra Cticullaria or D. Canadensis that has not been thus punc- 
tured. Whatever be its theoretical bearings upon the fertilization of 
these plants, the fact remains that both species still thrive here, grow- 
ing abundantly and in luxuriance. 
Locust Grove, New York. C Hart Merriam. 
Dicenlra Punctured by Humble-Bees.— In reading Prof. Bailey's 
note in the May Bulletin on the perforation of the flowers ot 
Dicentra Cucullaria by humble-bees, I am reminded that the late^Mr- 
Leg.£;ett once noted a similar cirgumstance in plants sent to hmi from 
Lewis Co., N. Y. For the benefit of those who are not fortunate 
enough to possess a complete set of the Bulletin, I make the toi- 
lowing extract from Mn Leggett's jio te:* *^ C. went toth ejvQQ^^ 
* Extract from a letter sent to Mr. L. from Lewis Co., Bulletin, iii., 33- 
