172 JOHN H. LOVELL 



pansies still remained in bloom. October 7 was cold and rainy, 

 but the day following was clear, warm and calm, and at 10 a. m., 

 a honey-bee spent more than ten minutes on the pansy flowers 

 searching for nectar. Two Syrphid flies {Eristalis tenax) were 

 also flying from flower to flower looking for pollen, but making 

 no attempt to find nectar. On the afternoon of the 10th, a 

 worker of Bombus consimilis and a male of B. jervidus were 

 examining the flowers for nectar; and on the 11th a worker of 

 B. consimilis and a white butterfly. Thus the pansies are not 

 so much neglected as at first appeared probable, but in the 

 absence of more desirable flowers are frequently visited by insects. 



On the morning of October 28, 1912, two honey-bees were 

 examining the larger, neutral flowers of Hydrangea paniculata 

 Sieb., but they soon learned that they were nectarless and passed 

 over to the smaller, perfect flowers. On July 16, a species of 

 Megachile visited two flowers of the climbing honeysuckle 

 (Lonicera Periclymenum L.), a hawk-moth flower; but its stay 

 was very brief, as it could not reach the nectar. It then flew to 

 another moth flower {Oenothera biennis L.), which was closed. 

 Finding no opportunity to get flower food it returned to the 

 honeysuckle; but meeting with no better success than on its 

 previous visit, it abandoned that part of the garden altogether. 

 In the evening, while the hawk-moths were industriously at work 

 on the honeysuckle flowers, they repeatedly inspected large, red 

 roses blooming on a bush a few feet away. The roses are pollen 

 flowers and devoid of nectar, but the hawk-moths were compelled 

 to learn this fact by direct examination. Another pollen flower 

 is the poppy, but before the anthers dehisc honey-bees may often 

 be seen searching for nectar at the base of the petals. Honey- 

 bees have likewise been observed looking for nectar under the 

 calyx segments of flowers belonging to the Labiatae. 



Further examples that honey-bees occasionally examine 

 carefully flowers, which are commonly neglected, might be 

 multiplied indefinitely; but sufficient instances have been given 

 for the purpose of the present paper. It has been shown that 

 such visits are actually made, and that they are infrequent 

 because the bees remember their inability to obtain flower food. 

 Nevertheless, in the aggregate they do waste much time in fruitless 

 visits to a great variety of flowers, which for one reason or another 



