THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



stance in the German and Swiss flora of a blue color being 

 produced by the selective agency of the Lepidoptera.'' Butter- 

 flies, moreover, do not confine themselves chiefly to red flowers, 

 but visit a great variety of colors, and of 1,43*2 visits made by 

 100 species, 45 per cent were made to yellow and white flowers, 

 and 55 per cent to red and blue flowers. The dingy-white 

 flowers of the thoroughwort are often alive with butterflies. 

 Finally butterflies visit the level-topped inflorescence of the 

 CompositoB, which offers good landing-places and abundant 

 nectar in slender tubes, more frequently than any other flowers, 

 which would show that they were influenced by form more than 

 by color. It seems, therefore, an open question whether the 

 red coloration of butterfly-flowers is not largely an incidental 

 result, rather than due to the selective agency of butterflies. 



138 



