blossom Hosts J/id Insect Guests 



need ever seriously threaten the apiary, though un- 

 questionably large numbers of bees are annually 

 destroyed by its excessive hospitality. 



Allied to the milkweed is another plant, the dog- 

 bane, Apocynum, which has a similar trick of en- 

 trapping its insect friends. Its droopmg, fragrant, 

 bell-shaped white flowers and long slender pods will 

 help to recall it. But its method of capture is some- 

 what similar to the milkweed. The anthers are 

 divided by a V-shaped cavity, into which the insect's 

 tono^ue is oruided as it is withdrawn from the flower, 

 and into which it often becomes so tightly wedged 

 as to render escape impossible. I have found small 

 moths dangling by the tongue, as seen in the illus- 

 tration below. 



'i^ ^ H(^ 



io8 



