BOTANICAL GAZETTE. ig 



moths upon the plant, besides numerous small black flies which, un- 

 like the moth, go down bodily into the flower. — L. Thompson." 

 '• North U'obuni, Oct. 2g, iSyc^." 



Upon writing Dr. Hermann MuUer in reference to these facts, he 

 replied as follows : 



"Lippstadt, Nov. lo, 1879. — Physianthiis rt'//w/^ has been observed 

 by Delpino as being visited by humble bees and fertilized by their 

 proboscis. It is a new and very interesting fact that Plusia precationis 

 is caught by the flowers of this plant and has been found dead sus- 

 ])ended by its proboscis. About carnivorous habits of bees, my 

 brother Fritz, in south Brazil, has observed that honey bees (but I do 

 not remember for the moment whether Apis or stingless Brazilian 

 honey bees) licked eagerly the juice dropping from pieces of flesh 

 which had been susijended in order to be dried in the open air. 

 Nothing else as far as I know has ever been published on the car- 

 nivorous habits of bees ; I hope, therefore, you will soon publish your 

 very interesting observations." 



We have also received the following letter from Mr. Darwin, dated 

 Down, Beckenham, Kent, Nov. 23d. "I never heard of bees being 

 in any way carnivorous, and the fact is to me incredible. Is it pos- 

 sible that the bees opened the bodies of the Plusia to suck the nectar 

 contained in their stomachs ? Such a degree of reason would re- 

 quire repeated confirmation and would be very wonderful. I hope 

 that you or some one will attend to this subject." 



We have also received the following note from Prof. Gray in refer- 

 ence to the subject : "It has long been familiar, and must several 

 times have been recorded, that moths or butterflies and other insects 

 are caught by getting their tongue, proboscis or legs into the chink 

 between adjacent wings of the anthers in Physiantluis or Arauja albens, 

 and Asckpias, etc. The anther-wings are very rigid, the groove be- 

 tween them narrows gradually upwards, so that when a leg or probos- 

 cis is engaged, an upward pull only fixes it more securely, and the 

 unhappy insects seem rarely to pull backward or downward, which is 

 the only way to get disengaged. As to the rest of your account I 

 know nothing; and should say that the observations need, if not 're- 

 peated confirmation,' at least some confirmation by an etomological 

 observer." 



It appears from the fact that the single worker bee received had a 

 pollen-mass attached to one of its fore legs, that it visited the plant 

 originally for the sake of its nectar. For what purpose did it attack, 

 kill the moths and, as it is claimed, "devour" them? We publish 

 the observations of Mr. Thompson and the comments upon them, 

 with the hope that the subject will receive attention next summer. 



Since this note has been put in type. Prof. A. J. Cook, of the 

 Agricultural College of Michigan, well known as an apiarian of ex- 

 perience, informs us that ivithin the hive, honey bee workers in killing 

 the drones tear them in pieces with their mandibles rather than sting 

 them, and that he has seen them thus kill a humble bee that had en- 

 tered the hive ; it thus appears, what we judge will be quite new to 



