48 



OPHEEiE. 



Chap, ll. 



apart, and project over tlie stigma ; and if any object 

 is gently pushed against one of them, the pouch is 

 depressed and the viscid ball together with the pol- 

 linium adheres to it and is easily removed. 



Since the publication of the second edition in 1877, 

 Hermann JVliiller has made the interesting observa- 

 tion* that the labellum of the Fly Ophrys is occa- 

 sionally covered with drops of an excreted fluid, and 

 in one instance he actually saw a fly (Sareophaya, sjh) 

 seated on the labellum and licking up the drops of 

 fluid. The fly flew away without removing tlie pol- 

 linia ; but if he had not been disturbed it is probable 

 that he would have moved on and tried the sham 

 nectaries of Sprengel, in which case he would have 

 come in contact with the sticky disc of the pollen 

 masses, and would thus have been able to effect the 

 fertilisation of the next flower which he might visit. 



That insects visit the flowers of the Fly Ophrys 

 .and remove the pollinia, though not effectually or sut'ti- 



' Nature,' 1878, p. 221, January 27. 



