Si.pr.-Oct., 1920.] THE ORCHID REVIEW. 133 
ie FERTILISATION OF SERAPIAS. \@ 
ERAPIAS is a small South European genus of Orchids whofe flowers 
are certainly visited by insects, for natural hybrids are occasionally 
found, both of Serapias itself and of hybrids with two or three species of Orchis 
which grow in the same district. Mr. J. Treherne Moggridge once found 
aninsect, Ceratina albilabris, in a flower of Serapias cordigera with two 
pairs of pollinia of S. lingua attached to its head. Col. M. J. Godfery has 
recently paid some attention to the subject, and remarks that although he 
has seen some hundreds of plants of both S. cordigera and S. longipetala, 
he never had the good fortune to see any insect actually enter the flowers 
(Gard. Chron,, 1920, ii. p. 70). A lucky accident, however, has thrown 
light on the question. In April last he saw a small bee crawling on some 
specimens of S. cordigera gathered the previous day, and it had a pair of 
pollinia of this Serapias attached to its head. A few days later one was 
found inside a flower of S. cordigera with two pairs of pollinia attached, 
and in both cases the bee was found to be the male of Osmia leiana. A 
month later, in the late afternoon, he gathered spikes of S. longipetala in 
the hope of finding a bee in one of them. A bee was noticed in one flower, 
which was placed carefully in a glass-lidded box. Next morning the bee 
was still in the ower, and when the sepals were drawn apart with a pair 
“of forceps, he slowly and reluctantly began to move, stretched himself and 
becoming wide awake, suddenly realised that he was a prisoner, and 
searched eagerly for a way of escape. It was a male of the same bee, and 
had a pair of pollinia of S. longipetala attached to its head. Two more 
bees of the same species were found on a gauze fly-curtain over the window, 
and these are believed to have come from the other flowers gathered. Col. 
Godfery remarks : “ Appareritly the male Osmia leiana makes a practise of 
sleeping in the tubular flowers of Serapias, which are admirally adapted for 
the purpose. Both S. cordigera and S. longipetala are evidently visited 
and fertilised by the same bee, which would account for the occasional 
appearance of hybrids between them.” 
Col. Godfery also alludes to the fact that Hermann Mueller, on several 
occasions, found a small bee in a torpid condition in the slipper of Cypriped- 
ium Calceolus in the early morning, and attributed its drowsiness to the 
intoxicating effect of the honey in the flower, but he remarks that it is more 
probable that the insect was simply asleep. He suggests that fertilisation 
may sometimes occur through insects utilising flowers as a safe hiding 
place for a night’s lodging. om 
We may add that the small bee known as Ceratina albilabris is figured, 
