HDctofcer 



LXXII 



ALL kinds of stonecrop possess peculiar attractions for 

 bees and butterflies, owing to their abundant secretion 

 of honey. Among the summer flowering 



. jf . . . f , . Stonecrops 



species the crimson variety of Rectum spumum 



is the most showy, and should be planted plentifully 

 near beehives. But at this season of the year one of 

 the tall-growing kinds, Sedum spectdbile, is by far the 

 handsomest. It is the latest to flower, and its great 

 flat rosy corymbs are irresistible to that splendid 

 autumn butterfly, the red admiral. I have mentioned 

 already how plentiful butterflies of various sorts have 

 been this season (1895). Well, this morning I have 

 been watching a number of these robust insects busy 

 on the large stonecrop so busy as to allow me to use 

 a lens on them. There were no less than sixteen 

 admirals at work on one group of spectdbile stonecrop. 

 The honey-bees, however, interfered with them, and 

 it was curious to see how shrewdly a red admiral would 

 sheer off at the approach of a bee of less than one- 

 tenth of his own bulk. Sometimes the butterfly was 

 too much engaged sucking up sweets to pay attention 



