INSECTS AND COLORED FLOWERS. 547 
■which the insect has no control. Speaking of a new born butterfly, he says : 
"Soon a flower catches its eye, and the bright mass of color attracts it irresisti- 
bly, as the candle-light attracts the eye of a child a few weeks old. It sets off" 
toward the patch of red or yellow, probably not knowing beforehand that this is 
the visible symbol of food for it, but merely guided by the blind habit of its race, 
imprinted with binding force in the very constitution of its body. Thus the moths 
which fly by night and visit only white flowers whose corollas still shine out in 
the twihght, are so irresistibly led on by the external stimulus from a candle 
falling upon their eyes that they cannot choose but move their wings rapidly in 
that direction," 
And again, "The butterfly in like manner is attracted automatically by the 
color of his proper flowers, and setting upon them, sucks up their honey instinct- 
ively." So also, "The picture of his kind, as it were, is imprinted on his little 
brain, and he knows his own mates the moment he sees them, just as intuitively 
as he knows the flowers upon which he must feed." So after all it is not any 
aesthetic taste that guides his choice, nor is it choice in any correct sense that deter- 
mines the result, but simply a blind, unintelligent and irresistible impulse over 
which the insect has no more control than has the falling leaf over the attraction 
of gravitation that draws it to the earth. And yet we are to believe that this 
blind force has. been so controlled by aesthetic emotions as to produce all the 
beauty of color displayed in the petals of flowers, the wings of insects and the 
feathers of birds. Now we are taught that this love of the beautiful, or, at least, 
the attractive power of bright colors in flowers and fruits is the great means em- 
ployed by nature to secure the fertilization of flowers and the distribution of 
seeds. We may stop here and inquire if it be true that plants with brilliant 
colored petals are more prolific or receive the attention of bees as fertilizing 
agents more surely than others. 
The honey-bee, with which we are better acquainted than with any other 
honey-eating insect, may be taken as an illustration. Does this visit only or 
principally brilliantly colored flowers ? It strikes me a careful examination of 
the habits of this little friend will throw a flood of hght on this subject. 
Having given considerable attention to the subject of bee-plants, I ofl"er the 
following list as comprising the principal ones throughout a large portion of our 
country. I insert the color of the flowers of each : 
Alsike clover — red and white. 
Boneset — white. 
Blackberry — white. 
Buckwheat — white. 
Bjsswood — white. 
Catnip — reddish tinge. 
Clematis — white. 
Cleoma — purple. 
Currant — yellowish white. 
