LIFE HISTORIES OF FAMILIAR PLANTS 



it would about cover the space of a pin's head, 

 and it is very commonly seen hopping and 

 fluttering about in a curious, jerky fashion on 

 windows of outhouses and similar places, but it 

 is very difficult to catch. 



Concerning the Hfe history of the species, very 

 little is known, yet it is certain that when arums 

 are blooming these midges give little time to any- 

 thing besides drunken orgies within their shelter. 

 You have only to cut open a bloom at the narrow 

 neck portion and look down to the lower part to 

 see the helpless insects lying in heaps, all more or 

 less intoxicated — intoxicated from over-indulgence 

 in arum nectar. Indeed, they are often almost 

 completely buried in the yellow pollen dust that 

 falls from the stamens, their hairy feelers, legs, 

 wings, and bodies being so thickly covered with 

 it that the insect looks twice its natural size 

 when it leaves the bloom. The temperature, 

 too, inside this enclosed area where the flies are 

 found, is much above that of the external atmo- 

 sphere, often from ten to twenty degrees higher. 



Therefore, in this balmy warmth, with abun- 

 dance of the nectar they love so much, they, like 

 drunkards, give themselves over entirely to in- 

 dulgence, doubtless completely forgetting the ex- 

 ternal world. However, as soon as you cut open 

 the bloom and let in the cooler air, they quickly 

 one after the other begin to revive and shake 

 from their bodies and limbs the thick coats of 

 pollen they have accumulated, and then take to 

 their wings, for they are good fliers. 



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