Insect ITfsftors. 219 



ingly numerous species of Halictus and Andre- 

 na, that the practice of feeding the young on 

 pollen collected by these hairs is exclusively or 

 mainly relied upon. In all species which pro- 

 vide for their own young, the males are of far 

 less service for fertilizing plants than the females, 

 as they are merely interested in their own main- 

 tenance, and neither collect pollen nor visit flow- 

 ers very diligently. Yet, in all species in which 

 a more or less thick coat of feathery hairs has 

 become developed upon the bodies of the fe- 

 males, it has become transmitted by inheritance 

 to the males, so that they also serve as pollen- 

 collectors. 



Think of the number of bees alone that take 

 part in the process of fertilization ! bees with 

 abdominal collecting-brushes and long probos- 

 cides ; the specially long-tongued Bombus and 

 Anthophora ; other bees with long or moder- 

 ately long proboscides ; bees of the genus Pro- 

 sopis, themselves possessing a peculiar odor, and 

 preferring highly odorous flowers ; Andrenadce 

 and Apidce ; hive-bees and bumble-bees ; work- 

 ers and drones ; big bees and little bees ; and 

 almost every variety of Hymenoptera with a 

 sting in its tail. 



The Lepidoptera, to which belong the but- 

 terflies and moths, are likewise highly important 



