MOSQUITOES AND FLOWERS 111 



statements are based upon actual observation. During the past season I found 

 a species of mosquito frequenting flowers in large numbers. It was obvious from 

 the behavior of these mosquitoes that the habit is quite normal with them. Con- 

 fident that the habit, of mosquitoes, of visiting flowers could not have altogether 

 escaped observation I made a hasty canvas of the available literature and brought 

 together the following records of a more definite character. 



" Theobald states : ' I have frequently seen Culicidse settled on Compositse, 

 sucking the juices of the flowers, both males and females.' * According to Giles 

 ' they are frequently found on flowers, and especially in England on the catkins 

 of the willow.' f Ficalbi found the first male of his CuJex alhopunctatus upon 

 a flower, sucking the honey, and upon searching the woods he found numbers of 

 males thus engaged upon flowers of the same kind.| A number of records 

 were traced through Knuth's Handbuch der Bliitenbiologie. Hermann Mliller 

 has observed the male of Cidex pipiens sucking on the flowers of Rhamnus 

 frangula.^ He has observed, in his room, this same species of mosquito effect- 

 ing the fertilization of Lopezia coronata by releasing the pollen and transmitting 

 it to the stigma of an older flower. || Burkill, in observations on the flower- 

 visitors of Mentha aquatica, made at Scarborough between September 30 and 

 October 7, found an Anopheles species ' four times, seemingly sucking honey.' ^ 

 The sex is not indicated. 



" The foregoing records are all European. Several American observers have 

 noted mosquitoes on flowers. Robertson, in a list of insects found on the flowers 

 of Ceanothus americanus between June 19 and 39, includes an undetermined 

 species of Culicidae.** Smith has found the males of A'edes sollicitans ' in great 

 numbers in wild cherry blossoms in the early evening, apparently busied in 

 getting at the nectar. Females have been observed at the same time ; but ap- 

 parently these abandoned the vegetable food readily, when the animal odor 

 advised them of something more to their taste.' ft Dr. Graenicher lists A'edes 

 stimulans among the flower-visitors of Smilax herbacea and Smilax hispida.1^'^ 

 No further data are given and upon inquiry Dr. Graenicher informed me that 

 he has no notes which would supply details regarding these observations. How- 

 ever he has very kindly furnished me the following interesting observations upon 

 A'edes sylvestris, recently made by him, which I give verbatim, 



" ' At the beginning of August, while collecting the visitors of our earliest 

 species of goldenrod, SoHdago jnncea, I came across a species of Culex on two 

 different occasions. Before writing to you on this subject I preferred to follow 

 up the matter more closely. Last Sunday [Sept. 1] the opportunity presented 

 itself, and I found Culex sylvestris Theo. (determined by Mr. C. T. Brues, 

 Public Museum of Milwaukee) on the flowers of the following three species of 

 Solidago: juncea Ait., canadensis L., and lanceolata L., {Euthamia gramini- 

 folia (L.) Nutt. in Britton's Manual). This species of Culex is common in our 

 region, and it was well represented on the flowers throughout the afternoon, but 

 especially towards evening. Males and females were present, both eagerly suck- 

 ing nectar. By approaching them cautiously I was able to observe their actions 



• Theobald, P. V. : Monogr. Culicidffi, vol. 1, 1901, p. 69. 



t Giles, G. M. : Handbook of Gnats or Mosquitoes, 2 ed., 1902, p. 114. 



} Ficalbi, E. : Venti specie di zanzare (Culicidjp) italiane. Bull. Soc. Ent. Ital., vol. 31, 

 1899, pp. 107, 186. 



§ Mliller, H. : Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten, 1873, p. 153. 



II L. c, p. 198. 



^ Willis, J. C, and I. H. Burkill : Flowers and Insects in Great Britain, pt. 1, Annals of 

 Botany, vol. 9, 1895, p. 250. 



** Robertson, C. H. : Flowers and Insects, III. Bot Gazette, vol, 14, 1889, p. 304. 



•ft Howard. L.. O. : Mosquitoes, 1902, p. 36, and Smith, J. B. : Report, mosquitoes of N. J., 

 1904, pp. 27, 203. 



it Graenicher, S. : Flowers adapted to flesh-flies. Bull. Wis. Nat. Hist. Soc, vol. 1, no. 1, 

 1902, pp. 33, 34. 



