SCROPHULARINEAE 203 



conspicuous against the handsome blue upper bracts and the dark-green foliage- 

 leaves. Plants are now and then to be found, however, with pale bracts almost 

 white in colour. Such were observed by Hermann Miiller in a wood at Kitzingen, 

 and by myself, in similar habitats, on the east coast of Rugen. 



The flower mechanism essentially agrees with that of M. pratense, but the 

 corolla-tube is longer, i.e. 18-20 mm. Its first 5 mm. are directed obliquely upwards, 

 and it then bends outwards almost horizontally. The lower lip often lies pretty 

 close to the upper one, though a space of 3-4 mm. is not infrequently left 

 between them. 



Individual flowers undergo a change of colour towards the end of anthesis, 

 for the golden-yellow of the under lip and upper part of the corolla-tube changes to 

 a brownish orange-yellow. This does not diminish, perhaps even heightens, the 

 conspicuousness of the entire inflorescence, while at the same time such skilled visitors 

 as humble-bees will learn to avoid these flowers, from which no more booty is to be 

 obtained. As a flower changes colour it bends further downwards, thus bringing the 

 stigma into the line of fall of the pollen, so that automatic self-pollination can take 

 place if crossing has not already been effected. 



Short-tongued humble-bees perforate the flowers and steal the nectar. 



Visitors. — Herm. Miiller saw the following in the Bavarian Oberpfalz (O.), the 

 Fichtelgebirge (F.)., and Thuringia (T.), and at Kitzingen (K.). — 



A. Coleoptera. Tekphoridae : 1. Dasytes sp., creeping into the flowers (O.). 

 B. Hymenoptera, Apidae: 2. Apis mellifica L. 5, skg. by perforation (K.); 

 3. Bombus lapidarius Z. 5 and 5. biting a hole a few mm. above the edge of 

 the calyx through the upper edge of the corolla, and skg. (O.) ; 4. B. hortorum L. 5, 

 skg. legitimately (K., O.) ; 5. B. agrorum F. 5, as 3. (O.) ; 6. B. pratorum L. t> and 5, 

 skg. by perforation (F.) ; 7. B. terrester L. 5 and g, freq., do. and po-cltg. (K.), 

 S, skg. by perforation (F.) ; 8. Psithyrus rupestris F. 5, do. (P.). C. Lepidoptera. 

 (a) Rhopalocera: 9. Leucophasia sinapsisZ., vainly trying to suck (O.) ; 10. Melitaea 

 athalia Rott., do. (K.). (3) Sphingidae: 11. Zygaena meliloti Esp., skg. (K.) 

 D. Thysanoptera. 12. Thrips, very numerous in its flowers (T., O.). 



Loew gives the following list for Brunswick (B.), Steiermark (S.), and the 

 Riesengebirge (R.) (' Beitrage,' p. 53). — 



A. Hymenoptera. Apidae: all skg. : i. Apis mellifica Z. 5 (R.) ; 2. Bombus 

 pratorum Z. S (R.) ; 3. Megachile circumcincta K. 5, skg. (R.) ; 4. M. melanopyga 

 Costa 5 (S.); 5. Psithyrus rupestris F. 5 (B.) ; 6. P. vestalis Fourcr. 5 (B.). 

 B. Lepidoptera. (a) Nocluidae: 7. Plusia gamma Z., skg. (R.). {b) Rhopalocera: 

 8. Epinephele janira Z., skg. (R.). 



The following were recorded by the observers, and for the localities stated. — 



Knuth (Riigen), 2 humble-bees — Bombus agrorum F. 5, freq., skg., and 

 B. rajellus K. 5, skg. Schmiedeknecht, the humble-bee Bombus mastrucatus 

 Gerst. 5. 



2145. M. cristatum L. (Herm. Miiller, ' Weit. Beob.,' Ill, p. 39 ; Kirchner, 

 'Flora V. Stuttgart,' p. 595; Schulz, 'Beitrage,' II, p. 217.)— In this species the 

 bright-purple bracts increase the conspicuousness of the inflorescences, though 

 sporadically they may be pale-yellow, as in the Tyrol according to Kerner. The 

 flowers are yellowish in colour, tinged with red, and the lower lip is darker than the 

 rest. Their mechanism essentially agrees with those of the three species already 



