1897 | BRIEFER ARTICLES 105 
de plantes. Ainsi, |’Axthophora femorata reste fidéle al Echtum vul.- 
gare; V Anthophora funcata compose sa patée sur la Melissa officinals ; 
VAnthophora mixta visite exclusivement les differentes espéces de 
Stachys, le Stachys hirta surtout.” This relates to Europe ; in our east- 
ern states Robertson and Patton have recorded similar instances. It 
must be clearly recognized, however, that in the regions mentioned 
such instances are exceptional; and, as Miiller remarks, if each flower 
had its own exclusive visitors, the number of visits would not depend 
upon its conspicuousness as compared with other flowers. 
In New Mexico, however, it is very common to find species of bees 
practically confined to particular species of flowers. The large genus 
Perdita (80 species are now known) is with few exceptions confined to 
the arid region, and repeated observation shows that most of the species, 
at least, are practically confined to one kind of flower. The same 
may be said to a less extent of arid region species of Heriades, Colletes, 
Calliopsis, etc., but there are many genera (e. g., Halictus) of which 
the species range far and wide over the blossoms, as do their represen- 
tatives in damper climates. It is to be remarked, further, that those 
flowers which have their special species of Perdita, and therefore might 
be thought independent of outside help, are many of them extremely 
conspicuous. Nothing could be more conspicuous than the splendid 
orange yellow heads of Batleya multiradiata, or the beautiful creamy 
flowers of the species of Mentzelia. One thing, however, may lessen 
the value of the Perditz, and that is that they are small, and do not 
take long flights ; it may therefore be advantageous to attract some 
Melissodes or Megachile, bringing pollen from a distant plant, even 
when the attendant Perdite are in profusion. 
Another thing which one has to notice is, that the honey bee, now 
common everywhere, sets aside all rules of bee etiquette. It goes 
everywhere, flies at all hours of daylight, and revels in flowers which 
wild bees hold in abhorrence. Therefore, it seems to me, those experi- 
ments which have been made with honey bees to determine the action 
of bees in general are inconclusive. Yesterday evening I passed some 
bushes of Datura metelioides, with a profusion of great white flowers 
making the air heavy with their odor. ‘The proper visitor of these 
flowers, a hawk-moth (Phlegethontius), was there, but there were also 
numerous honey bees, using the flowers as if they were their exclusive 
property. 
There is a yellow flowered Sisymbrium common in the Mesilla 
