CONSPICUOUS FLOWERS RARELY VISITED BY INSECTS 171 



grance. They are adapted to pollination by butterflies and 

 day-flying moths. The nectar, while not abundant, is sufficient 

 in quantity to yield a sweet taste to the tip of the tongue; and 

 it lies at the bottom of a calycine tube 15 mm. long, far beyond 

 the reach of honey-bees. Previous to July 11, 1912, I failed 

 to record a single bee visitor. On this date I saw a honey-bee 

 inspect several clusters of flowers, but it never actually alighted, 

 although flying close to the inflorescence. On the 23rd, a honey- 

 bee visited a few flowers. At about 11:00 a. m., August 6, a 

 warm clear day, two and at one time three honey-bees were 

 observed on the flowers. They were carefully watched for ten 

 minutes, and one of them vainly endeavored, standing in various 

 positions; to reach the nectar by thrusting its tongue down the 

 center of the flower. Others probed between the petals, even 

 looking under the corolla. An hour later, a bee was still found 

 on the clusters; at intervals, wasps and flies also examined the 

 flowers. Observations extending through the entire season 

 show that the flowers are very far from being wholly neglected 

 by Hymenoptera and Diptera, although a few inspections 

 might readily lead to this belief. 



The flowers of the bee larkspur (Delphinium elatum L.), 

 which are normally pollinated by bumblebees, have so long a 

 spur that the nectar is wholly inaccessible to honey-bees. In 

 my garden they are very rarely visited by insects of any kind. 

 On the morning of July 11, a honey-bee after visiting one or 

 two flowers, desisted from its useless efforts. On July 24, in 

 the afternoon, a honey-bee visited several flowers in an unsuccess- 

 ful attempt to find nectar. It pushed its tongue as far as possible 

 into the mouth of the spur, and also looked for nectar under the 

 upper perianth segment. On August 4, a bee inspected two 

 blue floral leaves, which had fallen from a flower to the green 

 foliage, thus showing that a single detached petal could gain its 

 attention. 



On July 16, a large moth poised before several flowers and 

 obtained the nectar without difficulty; in the evening the white 

 center contrasts so strongly with the blue ground color that the 

 attention of crepuscular Lepidoptera might easily be gained. 



During the summer of 1910, no insects were seen to visit the 

 flowers of the pansy (Viola tricolor L.). By October 1, nearly 

 all the wild and cultivated flowers had perished, but a few 



