POLLENATION 309 



nectar (see Fig. 139), and rub off some of the pollen in one 

 flower, and when they visit another flower this pollen comes 

 off onto the stigma. 



Certain tropical flowers are said to be pollenated by bats that come 

 to them for nectar. 



363. Insect pollenation. There are hundreds of species of 

 plants whose flowers are pollenated by insects, chiefly bees 

 and wasps of the bee order, and certain moths and butterflies. 

 All of these insects have sucking mouths, and they all visit 

 flowers that contain nectar. Some of these insects also use 

 pollen as food. The bees, for example, carry away quantities 

 of pollen, which they feed to the young in the hives. In 

 gathering the pollen or in sucking the nectar the insects rub 

 off pollen on various parts of their bodies, and then transfer 

 this pollen to the stigmas when they visit other flowers of the 

 same kind (see Fig. 140). 



