Chap. VII. 



CATASETUM TRIDENTATUM. 



205 



have resembled tlie males of C. saccatum and eallosum, 

 for as we have just seen, it is to these two plants that 

 ]\Iyanthus presents so many striking resemblances.* 



Ijastly I may be permitted to add that Dr. Criiger, 

 after having carefully observed these three forms in 

 Trinidad, fully admits the truth of my conclusion that 

 Catasetum trklentatum is the male and Monachaiithus 

 viridis the female of the same species. He further 

 confirms my prediction that insects are attracted to 

 the flowers for the sake of gnawing the labellum, and 

 that they carry the pollen-masses from the male to the 

 female plant. He says "the male flower emits a 

 peculiar smell about twenty-four hours after opening 

 and the antennae assume their greatest irritability at 

 the same time. A large humble-bee, noisy and quarrel- 

 some, is now attracted to the flowers by the smell, 

 and a great number of them may be seen every morning 

 for a few hours disputing with each other for a place in 

 the interior of the labellum, for the purpose of gnawing 

 off the cellular tissue on the side opposite to the column, 

 so that they turn their backs to the latter. As soon as 

 they touch the upper antenna of the male flower, the 

 pollen-mass, with its disc and gland, is fixed on their 

 back, and they are often seen flying about with this 

 peculiar-looking ornament on them. I have never 

 seen it attached except to the very middle of the 



* The male of the Indian ante- 

 lope (^A. bezoartica i after castration 

 produces horns of a -svidely dif- 

 ferent shape from those of the 

 perfect male ; and larger and 

 thicker than those ocoasionally 

 produced by the female. We see 

 something of the same kind in the 

 horns of the common ox. I have 

 reiiiHrked in my ' Descent of 3Ian ' 

 (2nd edit. p. 50G), th;it such 

 casee may probably be attributed 



to reversion to a former state of 

 tlic species ; for we have good 

 reason to believe that anj^ cause 

 which disturbs the cotistitution 

 leads to reversion, Myanthus, 

 though having the organs of both 

 sexes apparently perfect, is sterile; 

 it lias tlierofore had its sexual 

 constitution distiu-bed, and this 

 sceras to have caused it to revert 

 in character to a former state. 



