414 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXII, 



drum.mondi, rubra, variolaris, purpurea, and psittacina} While the 

 general structure is the same in all of these, there are interesting 

 differences in detail in the various species. In all the outer surface 

 of the pitchers is furnished with scattered, honey-secreting cells, which 

 Macfarlane appropriately calls "alluring glands," since they attract 

 the insects, especially the ground-loving species, like the ants, and 

 lead them to the orifice of the pitchers. In 5. purpurea there are 

 small upwardly directed hairs on the outside of the pitchers, while 

 the inside presents a series of surfaces modified in such a way as to 

 lead the insects to their death in the liquid contained in the bottom. 

 For these surfaces Macfarlane has adopted the names proposed by 

 Hooker. The uppermost portion of the pitcher lining, the so-called 

 "attractive surface," is covered with short downwardly directed 

 hairs. Below this there is a smooth slippery surface ("conductive 

 surface ") which is succeeded in turn by a densely "glandular surface " 

 not represented in the other species of the genus. And finally the 

 lowermost region presents a "retentive surface" furnished with long 

 downwardly directed hairs. The hairs on the attractive and retentive 

 surfaces prevent the insects from returning to the mouth of the 

 pitcher, while the smooth conducting surface cooperates in offering a 

 very insecure foothold, so that the insects fall into the liquid, usually 

 present in the bottom, and are there eventually digested and in part 

 absorbed by the plant tissues. 



The prevalence of ants in the bottom of Sarracenia pitchers has 

 been noticed by several observers. Mr. E. Daecke informs me that 

 he has seen these organs of S. purpurea half full of dead Crem- 

 astogaster workers in the bogs near Bamber Station, New Jersey. 

 Riley, ^ after describing the pitcher of 5. variolaris of the Southern 

 States, says: "The insects which meet their death in this pitcher 

 comprise numerous species and of all orders ; but as one might naturally 

 infer, the ubiquitous, honey-loving ant is the principal victim. " 

 And Macfarlane makes a similar observation on our northern form: 

 "I have had the opportunity of examining 5. purpurea in the New 

 Jersey swamps, and find that the ground-game, notably ants, are 

 largely caught by the pitchers. Flying insects and slugs are not un- 

 common, and though bulk for bulk they may yield a considerable 

 food supply for the plants. Hooker's supposition [that the pitchers 



'More recently he has published observations on another species (S. calesbai) from the Southern 

 States (The History, Structure and the Distribution of Sarracenia catesbcci. Contrib. Bot. Lab. 

 Univ. Pa., II, 1904. pp. 426-434). 



- Descriptions and Natural History of Two Insects which Brave the Dangers of Sarracenia 

 variolaris. Trans. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, III, 1S74, pp. 235-240, 2 figs. 



