THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE IN THE FOREST. 345 
Hanging from a creeper or branch may be seen here and there an 
oval, bag-like mass of aérial roots, something like one of the nests of the 
troupials so common on the silk cotton tree, above which are the 
pseudo bulbs and leaves of that wonderful orchid, the Coryanthes. 
After throwing out two or three roots to attach itself to its support, it 
develops an interlacing network all round, in a way almost peculiar to 
the genus. At first sight it would be hard to say what purpose could 
be served by such a contrivance, but strike or shake the plant and it 
will be seen that it is nothing less than a veritable ant’s nest. The 
orchid is, like other plants, subject to the attacks of many foes such 
as cockroaches and larve, which are particularly fond of the aérial roots. 
To protect itself against these, the Coryanthes has chosen to provide 
a comfortable nest, wherein a garrison of carnivorous ants find shelter, 
they, in return for the accommodation, being ready to come out and 
fight at the first alarm of an enemy. Other orchids which live in the 
tree tops are not so subject to crawling insects as those nearer the 
ground, and for that reason it appears that they have never seen the 
necessity for this special protection. Hpidendron (Diacrium) bicornu- 
tum has obviously felt this need, and set to work in its own way to 
accommodate a garrison. Being provided with long, cylindrical pseudo- 
bulbs, it has left these hollow, and for a doorway, allowed the shell to 
split for about a quarter of an inch at the base. In these well-pro- 
tected homes the ants live and thrive, and in return for their lodging, 
like those of the Coryanthes, are a standing terror to evil doers. Other 
orchids, such as Gongora, provide a half-shelter for ants, but their 
efforts in that way are of little importance as compared with Cory- 
anthes and Diacrium. 
Having provided a guard against crawling vermin, the Coryanthes 
proceeds to develop a most wonderful flower, in which every part is 
obviously formed to attract a particular insect. The majority of insect- 
fertilized flowers are grateful for the visits of either bees, butterflies, or 
flies, but not so the Coryanthes. It has laid itself out only to catch 
and utilize, without hurting it, a beautiful metallic green bee (Huglossa 
aurata). From the base of one of its pseudo bulbs, a long flower stem 
is produced, which pushes itself straight downwards. Upon this it 
hangs a number of beautiful cups, into each of which a liquid drips 
from two horn-like processes in the upper part of the flower. Take a 
china teacup with a spreading mouth, hang some little flags over the 
handle, and stick a model of the figurehead ofa Polynesian canoe oppo- 
site, and you have something like one of them, as it opens itself in the 
early morning from a bud resembling the swathing of a Chinese lady’s 
foot. The species vary in color and markings, being generally whitish 
or yellow, blotched and spotted with crimson. Their odor, as judged 
by our standard, is not pleasant, but nevertheless it is very attractive 
to the bees, which immediately on their opening swarm round in great 
numbers. Flying toward the flower, as a moth to a candle, the bee falls 
