106 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



CONCERNING THE FERTILIZATION OF ORCHIS 

 M AC U LATA. 



By a. M. Stewart. 



Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 



Pollinium on head of Phisia festucce and CucuUia umbrafica. 



Prof. Meldoli's note on " Caciillia umhratica, a Fertilizer of 

 Orchis macalata'' (Entom. xlii. p. 281), draws attention to a 

 subject of very great interest and some importance. It has 

 been the custom hitherto to regard the bees as the great ferti- 

 lizing agency at work amongst the flowers. Their labours are 

 carried on in the sunshine, and are therefore seen and noted. 



Thirty years of moth-collecting in the dusk of summer even- 

 ings, combined with a fair share of knowledge regarding the 

 'Ways of our Wild Flowers,' have led me to somewhat modify 

 that conclusion. I was always fond of collecting the Plusias ; 

 they are the trout of the entomological angler, so warily have 

 they to be stalked in the failing light as they speed from flower 

 to flower. 



It must have been many years ago — possibly twenty — when 

 I first took P. festucce with the pollinium of 0. maculata fixed on 

 its head. 



I know a rough hillside some miles from here where the 

 spotted orchis is a much commoner plant than the ragged robin 

 {Lychnis Jios-caculi), which latter is the flower most frequented 

 by the Plusias in this district. 



At varying intervals I have noticed a specimen amongst my 

 captures with these extra "decorations," but on looking over my 

 series I find that only two remain with me. 



If a careful watch be kept in the future by those interested, 

 not only over the species of Plusia but also over those of Dian- 

 thoecia and CucuUia, there is no doubt that some new records 

 and facts will come to light. 



