THE GATHERING OF THE NECTAR 



obtain the nectar, bite a hole in the spur; and afterward it 

 punctured the flowers visited without any preliminary delay. 

 I have noticed three distinct incisions, one above the other, 

 on a petal of this plant. The first was over half an inch from 



Fig. 50. Fly-Honeysuckle. Lonicera ciliata 



A bumblebee-flower; in their haste to obtain the nectar bumblebees 

 often puncture the corolla 



the tip of the spur, well up on the expanded part of the tube; 

 the second was lower down, and the third still nearer the tip. 

 Apparently the upper puncture was too far distant to permit 

 the tongue of the bee to reach the nectar, and to rectify this 

 mistake the other holes were made lower down. 



99 



