236 Guests Welcome and Unwelcome 



the ' Poker-plant ' (Tritoma), which blossoms in the 

 late summer, and may be seen creeping quite into the 

 tubes; and they are also said to fertilize the dahlia, 

 which is shunned by bees. 



' Where the bee sucks honey the wasp sucks poison,' 

 is a common saying, and as devoid of foundation as 

 such sayings often are. It is a libel on the wasp, and 

 too flattering for the bee ; for if the bee does suck and 

 store honey, which last the wasp does not pretend to 

 do, it also secretes poison, and its sting is generally 

 considered much the worse of the two ! 



To smaH, flat flowers, whose nectar lies so near the 

 surface as to require little probing for, beetles and 

 small flies are almost as useful as bees, and may be 

 seen in crowds on such little blossoms as those of the 

 wild carrot, and others of the same family which grow 

 together in flat heads or umbels. Even the water-side 

 midges do their part among the small flowers of the 

 river banks. 



All sorts of little flies, gnats and midges are attracted 

 also to the arums, some by the prospect of pollen and 

 nectar, others, as the carrion-flies, by the flesh-like 

 appearance and smell of many foreign species, on 

 which they even lay their eggs, supposing that their 

 grubs will be well fed; another illustration of what 

 was said before, that if they existed solely for the 

 purpose of attracting insects, all flower scents might 

 just as well be what human beings consider disagree- 

 able. 



The arrangements of the arum family are so curious 

 as to be worth a little special attention. We most of 

 us know the so-called ' arum-lily,' with its white flov/er 

 with the golden sceptre. The flowers of the arum are 



