CONSPICUOUS FLOWERS RARELY VISITED BY INSECTS 159 



adhered in small drops. It is evident that they must have oc- 

 casionally inspected the blossoms, or they would not have 

 discovered the colorless and odorless liquid. By frequently 

 replenishing the syrup, an indefinite number of bees might have 

 been attracted. There was sugar syrup on about ten flower 

 clusters. An available and abundant food supply is required, 

 therefore, to secure numerous and continued visits. 



Let us now inquire whether similar results can not be obtained 

 in the case of the garden pea, Pisum sativum. On a clear and 

 moderately warm morning (July 31, 1913), at 8:00 o'clock, 

 about forty flowers of this species were dipped in sugar syrup, 

 a few, small drops of the thin, colorless and odorless solution 

 adhering to each corolla. The garden was in a secluded location, 

 which had not been planted previously for many years, and was 

 nearly surrounded on two sides by a tall cedar hedge. During 

 the half hour following, a honey-bee inspected the flowers on 

 another row of peas, but failed to find the flowers garnished with 

 sugar syrup. At 8:40 a. m., a white-banded wasp, Vespa con- 

 sobrina Sauss, was also seen examining the flowers on another 

 row of peas, and presently, more fortunate than the bee, it came 

 to the flowers on which there was sugar syrup. For the larger 

 part of the day this wasp, and a little later a second wasp of the 

 same species, worked diligently gathering the sweet liquid. I 

 recorded many of their visits, but it would be tedious to relate 

 them in detail. 



At 9 : 10 a. m., a honey-bee was observed inspecting ungarnished 

 flowers of the garden pea; it alighted on the carina and then 

 sought unsuccessfully to reach the nectar through the side of 

 the flower. Ten minutes later a honey-bee discovered the 

 flowers with syrup, and subsequently it continued to return to 

 them at intervals until 10:20 a. m., when I closed the experiment. 

 It met with many disappointments as it often examined un- 

 garnished flowers. The pea blossoms were also visited by a 

 yellow-banded wasp, Vespa germanica Fab. At 4:00 p. m., I 

 found both species of Vespa still resorting to the flowers. 



On August 2, a hot, clear day, at 12:30 p. m., forty flowers of 

 the garden pea were supplied with sugar syrup, which was almost 

 immediately found by a honey-bee and a Vespa consobrina. 

 At 12:45, a second honey-bee and a Vespa germanica came to 



