38 



BOTANY 



How many other insects alight on the flowers ? Do bees visit flowers of the 

 same kinds in succession, or fly from one flower on a given plant to another 

 on a plant of a different kind ? If the bee lights on a flower cluster, does it 

 visit more than one flower in the same cluster? 



Is Color or Odor in a Flower an Attraction to an Insect? — Try to decide 

 whether color or odor has the most effect in attracting bees to flowers. Sir 

 John Lubbock tried an experiment which it would pay a number of careful 

 pupils to repeat. He placed a few drops of honey on glass slips and placed 

 them over papers of various colors. In this way he found that the honey- 

 bee, for example, could evidently distinguish different colors. Bees seemed 

 to prefer blue to any other color. Flowers of a yellow or flesh color are 

 preferred by flies. It would be of considerable interest for some student to 

 work out this problem with our native bees and with other insects. Test 

 the keenness of sight in insects by placing a white object (a white golf ball 

 will do) in the grass and see how many insects will alight on it. Try to 

 work out some method by which you can decide whether a given insect is 

 attracted to a flower by odor alone. 



The Eyes of the Bumblebee. — Look carefully at th& large eyes located on 

 the sides of the head. They are made up of a large number of little units, 

 each of which is considered to be a very simple e3^e. The large eyes are 

 therefore called the compound eyes. All insects are provided with com- 

 pound eyes, and in addition to these (in some cases) with simple eyes. The 

 simple eyes of the bee may be found by a careful observer in front and above 

 the compound eyes. 



One would suppose that with so many eyes the sight of insects 

 would be extremely keen, but such does not seem to be the case. 



Insects can, as we have already 

 learned, distinguish differences in 

 color at some distance, but they 

 do not seem to be able to make 

 out form at any distance. To 

 make up for this, they appear to 

 have an extremely well-developed 

 sense of smell. Insects can dis- 

 tinguish at a great distance odors 

 which to the human nose are in- 

 distinguishable. Night-flying in- 

 sects, especially, find the flowers 

 by the odor rather than by color. 

 The organ which perceives odors 

 is located on the feelers on the 

 head. 



Nectar and Nectar Glands. — The bee is attracted to a flower 

 for food. This food may consist of pollen and nectar. Nectar is a 



A lily; P, petal; »S., stamen (anther); 

 SEP., sepal; St., pistil (stigma). 



