April, '08] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 155 



small beetles, and even the little green tree frogs which habitu- 

 ally occupy the leaves, are sometimes found ensconced in the 

 flowers ; but from the first opening of the flava blossoms in 

 March, their most frequent visitor on sunny days is the honey- 

 bee, which being of suitable size to snugly fit the orifice, rarely 

 enters or leaves without brushing the stigma. Most of these 

 bees carry loads of pollen, and do not seem to exercise any 

 choice, relative to the age of the flowers, in making their vis- 

 its. Much smaller bees, Augochlora and Osmia, are less fre- 

 quent visitors and on account of their size usually escape con- 

 tact with the stigma. At rare intervals a bumble-bee may be 

 seen forcing its way into the flower by the usual path, but 

 this insect proved so infrequent a visitor that it can scarcely 

 be considered of much importance as a pollenizer of flava. 



One other insect, however, of suitable size to effect polli- 

 nation, an insect always associated with Sarracenia, is a con- 

 stant visitor to the blossoms. The Sarracenia fly, Sarcophaga 

 sarraccniae Riley, habitually resorts to the blossoms as well 

 as to the leaves, perhaps more for shelter than for food. At 

 night and on cool, windy or rainy days these flies crowd into 

 the blossoms, sometimes to the number of three or four to 

 one flower; they are rough, bristly, and often yellow with 

 pollen ; they enter and leave the flowers by the only practic- 

 able path, the orifice just under the stigma, which they are 

 of suitable size almost necessarily to touch in passing. 



It has been suggested that the pitcher plant moths (Exyra) 

 may be pollenizers of these flowers ; but as flara at Summer- 

 vine commences to bloom in March, and E.ryra ridingsii, the 

 Species most intimately associated with it, does not appear 

 until the middle of May, and E.ryra scinicrocca not until the 

 middle of April, this can scarcely be the case. The color of 

 the flowers and the fact that their fragrance becomes more 

 noticeable toward evening indicates the possibility that night- 

 flying insects may aid in pollination. The following list in- 

 cludes all the day-time visitors found in sufficient numbers to 

 indicate that they are habitual visitors to these flowers : 



