124 Mr. G. F. Scott-ElHot's 7iotes 



clypeatus, are more blue in their tastes even than Bombus 

 muscorum ; and no less than ten of these sixteen Diptera 

 habitually visit flowers of this colour. Very much the 

 same deduction can be drawn with regard to their taste 

 for red tints, Platychirus moMicatus and Rhingia are 

 nearly as fond of red as the Bombus muscorum, and only 

 five out of these sixteen Diptera are less fond of red 

 than Andrena albicans and Allanfus. 



If, in fact, we taks the average colour-preferences of 

 these sixteen Diptera, we find them to be as follows : 

 Average of Diptera : 46 per cent, white ; 22 per cent, 

 yellow ; 21 per cent, red; 10 per cent, blue ; from which 

 it clearly follows that these Diptera are of far more 

 advantage to red and blue flowers than either Andrena 

 or Allantus. 



When, instead of taking colour in flowers as a base of 

 classification, we look to complexity of structure ; we 

 find ourselves at once in a position of considerable 

 difficulty. The structure of flowers cannot be easily 

 brought into perfectly definite and unmistakable groups 

 such as are furnished by the four colours already 

 mentioned. 



If we group flowers according to their natural orders, 

 and tabulate insect visits to those orders, the result is 

 quite meaningless, because plants belonging to the same 

 order, or even genus, are in respect to insects of very 

 different complexity. Thus, Geranium sylvaticum, e.'/., 

 is visited by insects which bodily enter the open cup-like 

 flower; while (jeranium lucid uni is visited by insects 

 which stand on the petal and insert the proboscis into 

 the narrow short tube. Hence I found on Geranium 

 sylvaticum, Ajns, Bomhus pratorum, B. 7)iuscorum, 

 Halictus cylindricus, Nomada lateralis, Empis tessellaia, 

 E. pennata, E. vitripennis, and sp., Platy chines pel- 

 tatuK, P. manicatus, and five Anthomyidx, which could 

 not be named. That is a very varied and extensive 

 clientele. 



On Geranium lucidum, on the other hand, I only- 

 found Syrphus cinctellus, Melanostoma mellinum, Plafy- 

 chirus manicatus (though in great numbers) ; but no 

 Antliomyidse or Hymenoptera. This represents, of 

 course, a very different set of visitors. The difference 

 in Leguminosse betwixt the small yellow trefoils and 

 Ornithopus and the rest of the order is also most 



I 



