i6 



seem to visit few of our nati^'e plants, but commonly pollinate 

 introduced plants such as butter and eggs, white clover, and 

 thyme. The last-named plant, where introduced into the 

 Catskill Mountains, has become so abundant in some localities 

 as to ruin farms but make bee-keeping successful. At least 

 forty-five species belonging to the Mint Family alone, have been 

 introduced from Europe into eastern United States. A large 

 majority of these seem to be pollinated by the honey-bee. The 

 members of our rich native flora, lived, bloomed, and produced 

 seed ages before the honey-bee was introduced from abroad. 

 The most important insects in the pollination of our native 

 flowers are the bumble-bees. For example, they regularly visit 

 the hepatica, trilliums, moss pink, cyprepedium, wild geranium, 

 columbine, Bouncing Bet, clematis, jewelweed, wild carrot, 

 sumach, milkweed, mallows, closed gentian, thistle, and asters. 

 The columbine is also on rare occasions visited by humming- 

 birds. The bumble-bee sometimes robs the columbine by biting 

 into the nectaries from the top and so transferring no pollen. 

 They do the same thing with the fringed polygala and jewelweed. 



Mining-bees, resembling bumble-bees in appearance, live along 

 the edges of the Jersey marshes, and carry enormous masses of 

 pollen which they fashion into balls about half an inch in di- 

 ameter to act as food for the developing larvae. These bees 

 visit the rose mallows in great numbers. Other mining-bees, 

 especially valuable in fertilizing the smaller native blossoms, 

 are those belonging to the genera Andrena and Halictiis. 



Flies are important visitors of many plants; the false and two- 

 leaved Solomon's seal, white baneberry, black snakeroot, and 

 skunk cabbage are visited chiefly by flies and all produce abun- 

 dant fruit. The wild carrot is visited by several varieties of 

 insects, but chiefly by flies resembling wasps. The evening 

 primrose is visited by moths, especially hawk-moths. The 

 Joe-Pye weed, boneset, and thistles by butterflies and such day- 

 flying moths as Thishe. 



The plant on which most insects were seen was the staminate 

 plant of staghorn sumach. On one flower cluster fifteen species 

 were seen at one time, another cluster showed thirty insects of 

 fourteen species. In the closed gentian bumble-bees insert 

 their tongues, then push in the head and all or nearly all of the 

 body. When they back out a little fringe of white is left at the 



