6 BULLETIN 542, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



mcxicana Macq.) a bluish black species with a very broad body about 

 1.3 centimeters long, which was seen only once or twice. 



Among the Hymenoptera one of the most important was the honey- 

 bee (Apis mellifera L.); yet this insect did not appear to visit the 

 mango with much regularity, being found in considerable numbers 

 at certain times but scarcely coming near the trees on other days, and 

 only observed in certain sections, presumably where apiaries were 

 near by. Perhaps the irregularity of its visits may be due to the fact 

 that it does not find much honey on the mango flower and visits it 

 only when there is a scarcity of other material. The industry with 

 which the honeybee goes from flower to flower, systematically work- 

 ing over the surface of the disk with its proboscis to obtain all the 

 nectar present, at the same time turning its body around in a circle 

 and almost of necessity coming in contact with the anther in its cir- 

 cuit of the disk, makes this insect one of the most effective pollinating 

 agents. 



Two other Hymenoptera which visit the mango with great fre- 

 quency are Stenodynerus sp. and Stenancistrocerus hifurcus Rob., small 

 wasps with rather slender dark-brown bodies, which in most sections 

 were found more commonly than the honeybee. Gorytes sp. is an- 

 other small wasp somewhat similar in appearance to the last and 

 about as common; Cerceris sp. is smaller and was found much less 

 commonly. A somewhat larger wasp, with a particularly prominent 

 head, Hypocrabro 10-maculatus Say, and a smaller and lighter col- 

 ored one, Tachytes sp., are two others which were occasionally found. 

 Of the larger wasps, several visited the mango with great frequency, 

 especially during the early morning hours, but it is doubtful whether 

 they are as effective in transferring pollen as the honeybee, the smaller 

 wasps mentioned above, and flies, since their long legs usually keep 

 their bodies at some distance from the essential organs of the flower. 

 A small species, Arachnopliroctonus sp., is probably the most com- 

 mon one observed and was seen with great regularity, though not in 

 such numbers as several of the smaller wasps. Palinodes abdominalis 

 Cress., CJialybion coerulewn L., Polistes crinitus Fab. var., P. rubigi- 

 nosus Lep., and Sceliphron cementarium Dury are others which were 

 taken, but these probably did not have a great deal to do with polli- 

 nation. 



The sole lepidopteran which was collected on mango flowers was 

 the coontie butterfly (Eumaeus atala Poey), a species very common 

 in southern Florida and one for which the mango seems to possess 

 considerable attraction. Several dozen specimens were noted on a 

 single tree at one time, and some of them were seen taking up the 

 nectar from the disk with their long probosces. Several of these but- 

 terdies were examined to see if pollen could be found clinging to their 



