169 



Apis however on the palms is overwhelminoiy foujid on male 

 flowers, or on flowers in their male stage, obtaining food without 

 giving what would seem to be an adequate return. It is also in- 

 teresting to see it collecting pollen from the fallen male flowers of 

 Arenga saccharifera. This wdiich it has often been seen to do in the 

 Mala}' Peninsula, has been described also from Calcutta 

 (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal N. S. xii, 1916, p. 

 264:), where both Ajiis indica and A. forea were seen doing it; Apis 

 indica only has been seen doiug it in Singapore. Barl)osa Eod- 

 rigues (Les noces des Palmiers), has recorded that bees visit fallen 

 flowers of the palm Galielma speciosa in Eio de Janeiro, adding 

 that the}' fly u]~) into the crowns of tlie trees subsequently and 

 pollinate the female flowers. 



Apis indica lias lieen seen sucking honey from fallen Howers 

 ■of the Durian, Diirio zihetliinus. \}i\, in fSinga])ore. Apis dorsata 

 has been observed to go from calyx to calyx of Lencas linifolia, 

 Spreng., obtaining honey after the corolla had fallen, and at the 

 same time neglecting intact open flowers upon the plants. 



In the table of the flowers visited by Apis indications are given 

 of the frecjuence or rarity of the insects upon the plants named. All 

 orchids appear to be Imt rarely visited. Dendrobium cruraenatuni, 

 for instance, despite its conspicuousness and scent, rarely attracts 

 a bee; l)ut Apis dorsata- is w\dl suited for the pollination of its 

 stigma and has been seen ui)nn one of the rare occasions of its 

 visits to do it. Another orchid, (' ginbidinm finlaysonianum, is 

 rarely visited by Apis dorsata. but when visited the visits are eft'ec- 

 tive. Brooke and Hewett ha\e recorded the insect as a rare visitor 

 to the flower in Sarawak, just as it is in Singapore (Journal of tlie 

 Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, jSTo. 5-1, 181. p. 106). 

 Ridley in that Journal, (Xo. -14, 1905, p. 238) records Api>- dorsata 

 3.8 a visitor to (jraunuafopJi i/lluiit speciosuni, Bl. 



« Xylocopa. 



Larger than Apis and much more obtrusive, are the Xylocopas, 

 large l)ees with strong jaws, l)y which they tunnel into dead timber 

 to make their nests. The males are unim]Dortant as ])ollinators, 

 but the females get all their food and the food of their yonng u])on 

 flowers. Two sjjecies are coniinon, i.e. the large black -V. latipes, 

 Fabr., and the smaller yellow and black X. aestuans, Lei^el. ; a third 

 X. coerulea, ].e])el., is not uncommon. 



Xylocopa latipes is a great robber of flowers, Avhich it rapidly 

 bites open by means of its jaws, biting usually in the middle line 

 just above the calyx at the lu'arest available ])oint for the honey. It 

 lias been seen systematically biting the following flowers: — 



fpoinoea digitala, Linn., in the Botanic (lardens, Singa]wre, 

 the plant being a native of the Tropics generally. 



Bignonia niagtiipca. Bull, in Singapore, the plant being a native 

 of Xew Granada. 



