142 Notes ON THE TASTES OF BEES IN CoLouR. 
different localities for every hour in every month in which it has 
a flower open. It is needless to say that this has never been done. 
Anyone who compares different observations of the same flower 
will at once see how necessary this is. Muller’s observations of 
the same flower in the Alps and in Germany revealed totally 
different insect visitors. 
Willis and Burkill’s observations, Muller’s, and my own all 
showed many different visitors. I am quite sure that any observer 
who attempted to carry out a perfect series of observations on one 
flower would discover that many insects visit it whose attentions 
were never suspected. 
There is also the fact as I have tried to show by detailed 
observations, that flies of a high order of intelligence and who 
are specialised as insect visitors are very much better pollinators 
than some of the smaller bees. Their colour sense resembles that 
of the Hive and Humblebee. 61 per cent. of the 13 flowers visited 
by Rhingia rostrata, e.g., are blue and red. On the other hand, 
smaller bees do not show anything like-this proportion, for Andrena 
albicans visited red flowers in the proportion of 13 per cent., and 
Allantus nothi blue and red flowers in the proportion of 21 per 
cent. 
I think there are materials available to work out the insect 
tastes statistically. This would be done by taking the colours of 
flowers visited by all Bombus species and Apis, and arranging 
them in percentage of flowers visited as I have done with a small 
number of flowers in my paper on Flower-haunting Diptera. 
Muller’s observations in the Alpen Blumen resting as they do on 
such an enormous number of flowers, can scarcely be upset by 
any chance observations and conclusions. He there gives for the 
tastes of the higher bees 36.6 per cent. white and 63.3 per cent. 
red and blue. 
But if any member of the society would take the available 
data, Muller’s and recent observers’, and work them out fully, 
the result would be a very valuable addition to our knowledge of 
the subject. 
I think, however, a very strong personal opinion is always 
formed if one takes the trouble to examine the visitors of wild 
flowers patiently and systematically in their natural habitats. It is 
very striking to notice the difference between the red Geum rivale 
with its regular Humblebee visitors as compared with the yellow 
vars Te 
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