BEE OECHIS. 



Ophrys apifera. Nat. Ord. t 

 Orchidacea;. 



' ATUItE contains many curious 

 i examples of what has been 

 termed mimicry ; the repro- 

 duction of a certain form in 

 some wholly different species. 

 In most cases this mimicry 

 is held to be a protective 

 feature, but in others, as in 

 the present case, this theory 

 does not meet the require- 

 ments of the case. One can 

 easily understand that the re- 

 semblance of the curious clear- 

 winged moths, such as the 

 Spliccia api-formift, to bees, 

 wasps, hornets, and such-like 

 well-armed insects, often saves 

 them from being captured, 

 but in the case of the resem- 

 blance of our present plant to the insect of which it bears 

 the name this can only be regarded purely and simply 

 as a freak of Nature. The animal and vegetable king- 

 doms curiously interchange their forms, and while on 

 the one hand we have a plant having its flowers strongly 

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