210 OUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES 



identified as affecting the transference of pollen 

 from one inflorescence to another in the various 

 species of Fig. For the most part each species 

 of Fig has its own particular wasp ; only in 

 extremely rare instances have two different 

 species of wasp been found in the inflorescence 

 of one and the same Fig." 



Our common English Bulbous Buttercup 

 (Ranunculus bulbosus) offers several points of 

 interest in its relations with insects. Its 

 brilliant yellow flower consists of four distinct 

 and successive whorls of organs or floral leaves. 

 In the very centre are the carpels, then the 

 stamens, next the petals, and outside of all, the 

 sepals. At the base of each golden petal is a 

 tiny honey-gland or nectary, which is covered 

 by a small scale to protect it (from unwelcome 

 creeping visitors. The sepals, which covered 

 the flower in the bud, are in the expanded 

 blossom turned back on the stem, and will be 

 seen to be covered with small hairs. The 

 blossom of the Bulbous Buttercup may be said 

 to have two stages of development a male 

 stage which comes first, very shortly after the 

 expanding of the blossom, when the anthers 

 ripen in series from without inward; and a 

 female stage, which begins after the stamens have 

 ripened, shed their pollen, and withered, when 

 the carpels mature, and their stigmas become 

 receptive. It is obvious that here we have an 

 arrangement that renders self-fertilization practi- 

 cally impossible. The brilliant gold of the 

 petals, coupled with the honey-glands, will 

 naturally attract the visits of winged insects. 



