42 



FLOWERS AND THEIR WORK 



the compound eyes. All insects are provided with compound eyes, with 

 simple eyes, or, in most cases, with both. The simple eyes of the bee may 



be found by a careful observer be- 

 tween and above the compound eyes. 

 One would suppose that with so 

 many eyes the sight of insects would 

 be extremely keen, but such does 

 not seem to be the case. Insects 

 can, as we have already learned, dis- 

 tinguish differences in color at some 

 distance ; they can see moving ob- 

 jects, but they do not seem to be 

 able to make out form well. To 

 make up for this, they appear to 

 have an extremely well-developed 

 sense of smell. Insects can distin- 

 guish at a great distance odors which 

 to the human nose are indistinguish- 

 able. Night-flying insects, espe- 

 cially, find the 

 flowers by the 

 odor rather 



A lily : P, petal ; S, stamen (anther) ; 

 SEP, sepal ; St, pistil (stigma). Note 

 the nectar guides on the petals. 



than by color. 



Nectar and Nectar Glands. The bee is 

 attracted to a flower for food. This food may 

 consist of pollen or nectar. Nectar is a sugary 

 solution that is formed in the flower by little 

 collections of cells called the nectar glands. 

 The nectar glands are usually so placed that 

 to get to them the insect must first brush the 

 stamens and pistil of the flower. Frequently 

 the location of the nectaries (nectar glands) 

 is made conspicuous by brightly colored 

 markings on the corolla of the flower. The 

 row of dots seen in the tiger lily is an ex- 

 ample. 



Head of the bumble- 

 bee ; a, antenna ; g, 

 tongue used in lick- 

 ing the nectar from 

 flowers ; ra, maxillae. 



Mouth Parts of the Bee The mouth of the bee is adapted to take in 



the foods we have mentioned, and is used for the purposes for which man 

 would use the hands and fingers. The honeybee laps or sucks nectar from 

 flowers, it chews the pollen, and it uses part of the mouth as a trowel in 

 making the honeycomb. A glance at the Figure shows us that the mouth 



