INSECTS AND FLOWERS 215 



one set of combs to the basket of the opposite leg, the 

 stiff hairs on the hind-margin of the planta serving to 

 scrape the pollen from the combs. If we watch a bee 

 that has just left flowers from which it has gathered 

 pollen, we shall see that it hovers in the air for a 

 few seconds ; and those who possess keen vision will 

 see that it makes swift passes with its legs. It is, in fact, 

 combing the pollen grains from its hairs, and transferring 

 them to the baskets ; but its movements are so extremely 

 rapid that their precise sequence eludes the eye. When 

 it reaches the hive, the bee thrusts its hind-legs into a cell, 

 and removes the masses of pollen from the corbicula by 

 means of the tibial spurs of the middle legs. Mixed with 

 honey, the pollen is used to feed the rising generation 

 of grubs. But the worker bees cannot reach all parts of 

 their bodies with their legs, and some pollen is sure to be 

 left sticking to the hairs. These stray grains are of prime 

 importance from the point of view of the plant, for they 

 may be carried from one flower to another of the same 

 kind where they are likely to set going the process of 

 seed or fruit production. Thus, in their visits to flowers, 

 bees and other insects perform an unconscious service to 

 the plants. 



A little knowledge is said to be a dangerous thing ; 

 but a little knowledge of botaii}' is indispensable if we 

 wish to comprehend the relationships which exist between 

 insects and flowers. We must know what a flower really 

 is, the functions of its various parts, and the names by 

 which they are distinguished. The late Grant Allen, 

 in a quaint phrase, called flowers "the husbands and 

 wives of plants." Without flowers, plants would be, 

 if not sterile in the fullest sense of the term, at least 

 deprived of their most effective means of reproduction. 

 Of course there is a whole class of flowerless plants the 



