RELATED STUDIES AND CRITIQUES. 191 



"A diurnal sphinx (Macroglossa stellatarum) entered my room, in which there is a 

 tapestry with a clear background strewn with bouquets of white and rose flowers 

 with green stems and leaves. For two minutes the insect flew from bouquet to 

 bouquet, stopping before 5 of them with the ligule unrolled as if visiting real flowers. 

 Afterwards he disappeared suddenly, possibly because I moved in the hope of observing 

 him more closely." 



P£rez himself saw an individual of this same species fly abruptly from a 

 pot of flowers in a window to a small piece of rose-colored paper on the 

 pavement, but the mistake once recognized the moth disappeared like a 

 flash (1894). Several years later (1897), he stated that he had frequently 

 deceived this moth by placing bits of bright-colored paper on shrubs, and 

 that Eristalis also exhibited a similar response. 



Lesne (1895) saw a fly of the genus Bombylius alight without hesitation 

 on an artificial violet of his sister's hat and insert the ligule in the corolla. 

 Not finding nectar, it passed at once to a second and then to a third in the 

 same manner before flying away a few paces to rub its tongue as though it 

 had been roughly treated. It was concluded that smell in the case of the 

 Bombylidae does not play the role ordinarily assumed, but that vision alone 

 enables them to discover the flowers that provide their food. However, 

 this was not intended in an absolute sense, since it was later stated that the 

 bee-flies are guided by both senses acting together in most cases. This 

 discrepancy was pointed out by Gazagnaire (1895) in the paper immediately 

 following, and it was contended that either or both senses acting together 

 could enable these flies to distinguish the flowers sought and that errors 

 would be frequent only when they were flying indifferently and not in 

 need of food. Schnabl (1896) related an experience of Schuch, who saw 

 a Macroglossa flying before a tapestry in a hotel room, on which were 

 represented flowers of Tropaeolum majus. It went to the flowers from time 

 to time in the endeavor to plunge its ligule into the corolla. 



Bedford (1897), while walking down a street in London, noted a 

 butterfly (Pieris brassicae) following a lady's hat, which was ornamented 

 with artificial lilies of the valley. It made repeated attempts to light on 

 the flowers, but was prevented by the abrupt movements of the wearer 

 and finally gave up the endeavor. Parkin (1897) related the observations of 

 his friend Winstaley with respect to a honey-bee that entered his room. 

 This flew at first to some paintings on the wall opposite the window, 

 passed from one to the other in making the round of the room, stopping 

 for an instant before those with color, and then disappeared through the 

 open door. It returned and flew to the gas-globes, returned to the paint- 

 ings, went again to the globes, visited four glass objects on the mantel- 

 piece, and finally, after five minutes in all, departed through the window. 

 Thornley (1897), on one or two occasions when driving a pony whose 

 head was decorated with blue rosettes, saw a Macroglossa fly straight to 

 one of the rosettes and hover above it for several seconds, although the 

 pony had begun to trot. 



Knuth (1898 2 ) recorded the case of Syrphus that flew to the flowers on 

 his wife's hat in a railway station at Leipsic. The flowers were greenish- 

 brown with a velvet sheen, but in spite of their inconspicuous character 

 and lack of fragrance, the fly hovered over them for several minutes, per- 



