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ADDITIONAL REASONS WHY INSECTS DO NOT SELECT COLORS. 



1. There are numerous species of flowers which have 

 never been known to change color, for example, dandelion 

 and buttercup. 



2. A considerable number of different hues are devoid 

 of odor and nectar. 



3. Flowers of the same species gro\vin<>; naturally in 

 different regions, are visited by (juite different insects. 

 According to Miiller himself there is a vast difference in 

 the number and kinds of insects visiting Thymus serpyllum, 

 whether in lowlands or on the Alps. "In lowlands there 

 are more flies ; in the Alps more butterflies." 



4. Short-lipped insects would naturally seek o[)en or 

 diminutive flowers, but ordinarily there would be nothing to 

 prevent their entrance to tubular or bell-shaped flowers, 

 woY anything t(j prevent bees and butterflies from visiting 

 the former. Comparatively few flowers are specialized for 

 a single species of insects. 



5. If insects have preferences and can change the color 

 of flowers by their partiality for their favorites and the 

 neglect of others, one would expect that the resultant of 

 the visits of a score or two of insects belonging to different 

 species would be a dull or neutral hue, while as a matter 

 of fact our flowers as a rule have remarkably pure and rich 

 colors, as seen in the daisy, buttercup), rose, etc., notwith- 

 standing that they may be visited l)y as many as tifty differ- 

 ent species of insects, or even more, including coleoptera, 

 hemiptera, lepido|)tera, and hunmiing-birds. 



Miiller states that eighty-eight different species of insects 

 visit Cnicus arvensis, rose-i)urple, and ninety-three s})ecies 

 Taraxacum officinale, yellow. If these insects, each with 

 its special taste for color, can by their combined efforts 

 produce a pure yellow in one case, and a rich purple in 

 another, it must l)e because they were guided by Omnipo- 

 tence, and the I'esult is no less than a miracle ! 



