190 OUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES 



of the spathe which surrounds and encloses 

 them, are the curious stiffish hairs which point 

 downwards and partially outwards, these are 

 really abortive or misshapen flowers, and at 

 this narrow neck form a sort of lobster-pot. It 

 is easy to see that while a small insect will have 

 no difficulty in creeping down past the hairs 

 into the little chamber below the constriction, 

 it will find that retreat is almost if not quite 

 impossible owing to the downward and out- 

 ward curve of the hairs. On slitting open 

 the spathe, we shall very likely find a number 

 of tiny midges imprisoned within the chamber 

 below the constriction, and all more or less 

 covered with pollen. These insects have 

 arrived after a sojourn in another Cuckoo-pint, 

 and have brought the pollen that covers their 

 wings and bodies along with them. On first 

 entering the chamber, they found no pollen 

 there, for the female flowers at the bottom 

 ripen first, and consequently the insects in 

 creeping over the sensitive surfaces of these, 

 fertilize them with the pollen they have brought 

 from the last plant they visited. On discovering 

 that there is nothing to eat, the midges would 

 fain depart, but are prevented by the lobster-pot 

 arrangement of downward pointing hairs. So 

 they must perforce remain prisoners within the 

 chamber. They crawl about aimlessly seeking 

 for food, and in so doing, all unwittingly fertilize 

 the female flowers. By the time this has been 

 accomplished, the male flowers above begin to 

 ripen and shower down pollen upon the midges 

 in abundance, so that the little insects not only 



