20 l.'OW PLANTS ISK ANIMALS. 



colour. The large leaves are arranged in a rosette around the base 

 of the stenj, and are eight to ten inches in length, hollow or 

 trumpet-shaped, ascending, curved, broadly winged along one 

 side from the base to the mouth of the pitcher, and teiniinatiug 

 in a rounded, arched hood at the apex. The wing is bordered or 

 edged by a ])urplish cord, which also runs around the mouth. 

 An abundance of purple veins contributes to the beauty of the 

 colouring. The pitcher is partly filled with water and drowned 

 insects. The hood is ornamented with brilliant colours and 

 clothed on its inner surface with stiff, polished bristles pointing 

 downwards. Within, the surface of the tube is exceedingly 

 smooth, rendering it impossiljle for an insect to crawl out after 

 it has entered. The thickened smooth lip, surrounding the 

 mouth, is rendered attractive by a sweet secretion which lures 

 both winged and crawling insects to enter. In the southern 

 species, the wing also secretes nectar along its whole length, and 

 presents an irresistible attraction to ants and other wingless 

 creatures. Mrs. Mary Treat informs us that she "noticed on 

 some of the plants a line of small ants, extending from the base 

 of the leaf to the summit, feeding on the secretion; so numerous 

 were they that they crowded one another, but all steadily ad- 

 vancing to the opening, down which they disappeared."* She 

 describes in graphic language the "very friendly and fraternal" 

 manner in which they meet and pass each other, going to or re- 

 turning from their feeding grounds on other plants. But "nuirk 

 the difference when the ants are feeding on the sweet secretion of 

 Sarracenia variolaris; now they crowd and jostle <me another, 

 and seem wild in their movements, and all are advancing in one 

 line towards the summit of the leaf, on reaching which, they 

 disappear down the white throat of the insatiable Sarracenia. 

 No return line here." On one occasion she placed a number of 

 leaves in vases of water, in her study, to keep them fresh, and 

 opened the windows to admit the insects swarming in the warm 

 air outside. When a sufficient number had entered she closed the 

 screens to the windows and watched the results. The flies were 



* Home Studies in Nature, hy Mary Treat, p. 189. 



