12 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis 



long weeks of experimenting he discovered and has con- 

 clusively shown that odors alone do not lead bees to 

 flowers, but that bees do respond to colors, and not only 

 that, but also that they are capable of recognizing them 

 at a distance. 



Not content with discovering that bees are capable of 

 recognizing colors, a year later he carried out in great 

 detail a series of experiments which proved that bees 

 can distinguish between patterns. Here, too, he used 

 ingeniously devised paper boxes with various color 

 markings. His method was to permit a few bees to learn 

 that they could collect honey more easily from artifacts 

 of a certain color pattern, than they could from flowers, 

 and after they had thoroughly learned this, to see if these 

 bees could select artifacts of this particular color pat- 

 tern from a number of different color patterns. The 

 result of this investigation was the discovery that bees 

 can distinguish color patterns, and there is much in their 

 behavior to indicate that in their ability to distinguish 

 details they are near-sighted. This ability is of value 

 to them in recognizing plants that yield honey ; and since 

 insects can distinguish colors and the fine details of color 

 patterns, there remains nothing in the visual powers of 

 bees to militate against the theory that the colors and 

 markings of flowers are adaptations which attract insect 

 visitors. 



In a work on the behavior of that marvel of the insect 

 world, the pit-making ant-lion (larva), Dtr. Turner de- 

 scribes in detail its method of excavating the pit, which, 

 when completed, is a trap for insect prey. He explains 

 the method of the creature in capturing prey, which it 

 sucks dry witli its hollow jaws; he tells of its various 

 reactions, which are probably tropisms ; how it is impos- 

 sible for the insect to move forward, but in its backward 



