678 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



their wings rapidly vibrating mean- 

 wliile. 



The butterflies are excellent honey- 

 hunters, because, as already said, 

 their proboscis is very highly develop- 

 ed. It arises from the head midway 

 between the eyes, and frequently ex- 

 ceeds the entire body of tlie insect in 

 length. When not in use, it is kept 

 coiled up like a watch-spring, but can 

 be uncoiled at will, and thrust deep 

 down into the nectary of a flower. 

 The proboscis is hollow, and the 

 "honey is sucked up by the extreme 

 tip. 



In the butterfly the proboscis is the 

 only part of the mouth that is fully 

 developed. In many insects the mouth 

 is very complicated in structure ; but 

 in the butterfly a number of the parts 

 are almost entirely suppressed. The 

 labial palpi, however, are usually 

 pretty well marked. They are long 

 and narrow, and are denselv covered 

 with hairs. To these hairs the pollen 

 adheres, while the butterfly is en- 

 gaged in sucking the honey, and by 

 them it is carried to the stigma of the 

 next flower which the insect enters. 



The proboscis is usually from three 

 to seven centimetres long, but in 

 many tropical moths it attains a 

 length of over twenty centimetres. It 

 is by the great length of their pro- 

 boscis that many butterflies are en- 

 abled to suck the honey from flowers 

 having very long and narrow corolla- 

 tubes, where it would be quite inac- 

 cessible to other insects. We need 

 scarcely say that this feature is a 

 great advantage to the butterfly or- 

 der, for it means that they have the 

 monopoly of the honey of flowers 

 with a long, tubular corolla. The 

 honeysuckle (Lonicera Peridymenitm), 

 is a good native example of a flower 

 with a tubular corolla, in which the 

 nectary is so situated as to be beyond 

 the reach of the various bees and but- 

 terflies with short proboscides, likely 

 to be attracted by it in the daytime. 

 In this case the honey is entirely re- 

 served for one of the evening moths 

 [Sphinx ligustn), which possess a pro- 

 boscis of almost exactly the same 

 length as the corolla of the flower, i.e., 

 about forty millimetres. Attracted 

 by their fragrance, the insect will 

 hover over a cluster of flowers for a 

 time ; Anally selecting one, it uncoils 

 its long proboscis, tlirusts it deep into 

 the innermost recesses of the corolla, 

 and, at its leisure, sucks the sweets 

 denied to less fortunate members of 

 its kind. 



As fertilizers the beetles are not so 

 important as the butterflies and 

 moths. Only a small proportion pay 

 regular visits to flowers, the greater 

 number deriving their food from quite 

 other sources. !Many species which 

 do frequent flowers only effect injury, 

 devouring, as they do, some of the 

 most important "organs, e.g., the 

 stamens or the ovary. Others, how- 

 ever, and especially those whose 

 small size admits of their creeping 

 into the interior of the flow'er, fre- 

 quently promote cross-fertilization, 

 the viscid pollen adhering to the gen- 

 eral surface of their body, from which 

 it is brushed off by the stigma of the 

 next flower they enter. Such flower- 



beetles as Anthrenus, Ileliqethes, Ma- 

 lachias, and certain smaller sorts, are 

 extremely useful in this way. 



In other species certain parts of the 

 body are specially adapted for obtain- 

 ing "food from flowers. Thus, in the 

 crown-beetle (Cerocoma Scho'fferi), the 

 middle of the antennte are charac- 

 terized by very strong and well-defined 

 expansions, and are partly covered 

 with hair. The palpi are very long, 

 and the tongue is provided with two 

 tufts of hair. These form together a 

 large yellow crest on the anterior 

 portion of the head. In midsummer 

 this beetle is occasionally to be met 

 with on the flower of the milfoil and 

 corn marigold. If one of these beetles 

 be caught and examined with a lens, 

 the crest is usually found to be cov- 

 ered with a multitude of little yellow 

 pollen-grains. 



Among the long-haired beetles the 

 LepturidoB are specially well adapted 

 for procuring food from flowers. The 

 anterior part of the body (head and 

 thorax) is narrow and elongated, so 

 as to enable the insect to push its way 

 pretty deeply into the interior of the 

 flower. The mouth-parts are well 

 developed, and stand straight forward 

 from the head. The labium is usually 

 hairy, and is thus extremely useful in 

 extracting honey. 



Compared with the beetles, Diptera 

 or flies take a very prominent position 

 as promoters of cross-fertilization. 

 One great advantage which they have 

 over the former class is their power 

 ot free and rapid motion. While the 

 beetles are almost without exception 

 compelled to adopt a slow mode of 

 locomotion, the movements of the 

 flies are among the most rapid known 

 in the insect world. The number of 

 native species of Dipterals very large; 

 of those v.'hich frequent flowers we 

 shall here consider but a few. One of 

 the largest and most rapid flying of 

 the Diptera is the humble-bee fly 

 {Bombi/lius vu'ior). In this species 

 the proboscis, which is situated on 

 the anterior portion of the head, is of 

 considerable length, so that the in- 

 sect can reach the honey even when 

 it is secreted some way down the 

 corolla-tube. The manner in which 

 Bombylius hovers over a flower while 

 extracting the honey closely resembles 

 that already described as character- 

 istic of the moths among the Lepi- 

 doptera. 



The Empidce are easily distinguish- 

 ed by the peculiar formation of the 

 head and proboscis. The latter is not 

 directed forward, but almost perpen- 

 dicularly downward, and the head 

 itself is round ; the whole thus bear- 

 ing some resemblance to the long- 

 beaked head of a crane. Many of the 

 iSyrphidcti are also honey- suckers. In 

 structure they resemble the common 

 house-fly more tlian the Diptera we 

 have just considered. The posterior 

 part of the body is mostly distinguish- 

 ed by a number of bright and dark 

 colored bands and specks. As typical 

 examples we may mention the large 

 Syrplius, the allied Erislalis teinix and 

 arbuntorurti. and the cone-fly (Bhinqia 

 rostruta). The latter may easily be 

 recognized by its peculiar proboscis, 

 which is kept coiled up under a small 



conical projection on the anterior part 

 of its head. The sucking appnratus 

 of the Diptera consists of a suctorial 

 proboscis, resembling in a general 

 way that of the common house-fly. It 

 is tubular, short and thickened at its 

 extremity, so as to form a disk, upon 

 which are furrows and hairs. It is 

 by means of this disk that the 

 honey is taken up. The proboscis of 

 the Diptera being almost always short 

 and blunt, they can only extract 

 honey from such flowers as have an 

 open corolla. Insects of this order, 

 then, need only be sought for on flat 

 flowers, and there indeed they may be 

 seen on any sunny day, rapidly creep- 

 ing about, and greedily imbibing the 

 nectar. The Umbellifera: are special 

 favorites with them, the nectar being 

 found on the disk in the centre of the 

 flower, which can very easily be 

 reached. The Diptera are never 

 found on flowers with long corolla- 

 tubes. Only such forms as the hum- 

 ble-bee flies, iSyrphidce, Empidce, and 

 a few others, have a proboscis large 

 enough to enable them to obtain 

 honey from flowers of slightly tubular 

 form. The proboscis of Bombyliics is 

 about one centimetre long. It is 

 strong and stiff, cleft at the extremity, 

 and thickly beset with hairs. Certain 

 other structures entering into the 

 formation of the mouth (e. g., the lip, 

 the mandible, and the maxillae), al- 

 most equal it in length. The cone-fly 

 (Rhingia rostrata), in common with 

 many other broad-headed flies, pos- 

 sesses the power of coiling up its pro- 

 boscis, the length of which is about 

 twelve millimetres. That anterior 

 portion of the cone-fly's head is pro- 

 longed forward so as to form a sort of 

 beak. When not in use, the proboscis 

 is kept coiled up beneath this pro- 

 longation. When required, the ex- 

 tremity of the proboscis is tirst in- 

 clined downward, and the organ is 

 next suddenly shot out to its full 

 length. When fully extended the 

 proboscis projects far beyond the 

 beak-like anterior portion of the 

 head. The extraction of the honey is 

 effected by means of the cleft tip. 

 The cleft extremity is used in sucking. 



We have already seen that many 

 flowers are exclusively visited by 

 Lepidoptera, their honey not being 

 within the reach of insects belonging 

 to any other order. Such, for in- 

 stance, are honeysuckle and privet. 

 Very few flowers, however, are fre- 

 quented solely by Diptera; for the 

 length of the proboscis, even in those 

 Diptera, in which it is best developed, 

 is attained, if not surpassed, by many 

 of the Hymenoptera (humble-bees, 

 honey-bees, etc.). The latter class, 

 therefore, share with the Diptera the 

 privilege of frequenting certain species 

 of flowers. We shall now pass on to 

 consider them for a little. 



Of all insects the Hymenoptera 

 (bees and wasps) are, on account both 

 of their physical structure and their 

 peculiar instincts, the best adapted 

 for the task of extracting and collect- 

 ing honey from flowers. The species 

 comprised in this order, and more es- 

 pecially the bees, are all characterized 

 by a superior share of intelligence, 

 not only as honey-hunters, but in 



