LEGUMINOSAE 279 



hortorum L. (b) Formicidae: 6. Formica rufa L. (c) Ickneuvionidae: 7. Cryptus 

 analis Gr. 



Schletterer saw the small leaf-cutting bee Megachile argentata F. at Pola. 



Schulz (Thuringia) and Urban (Berlin) have observed flowers perforated by 

 Apis and humble-bees. 



The flowers are more explosive than those of M. sativa, and Burkill says 

 that they are made more so by warmth. To such an extent is this the case that 

 the pressure exerted by flies (Syrphids, and even Muscids) may be sufficient to 

 liberate the mechanism. When the blossoms are at maximum tension, explosion 

 may be eflected by a sudden heavy shower. 



669. M. media Pers. (=M. falcata x M. sativa). (Knuth, ' Bloemenbiol. 

 Bijdragen.') — The colour of the corolla is variable in this hybrid. At first it is 

 generally yellow, then becomes greenish, and lastly bluish or violet. It grows 

 abundantly on the walls of the fortress at Coburg, where I noticed that some 

 individuals approximated more nearly to M. falcata, and others to M. sativa. 



Visitors. — I noticed the honey-bee, common, at Coburg. Loew observed a 

 beetle, and 2 bees in the Berlin Botanic Garden, as follows. — 



I. Coccinella octodecimpunctata Scop., settling on the outside of the flower; 



2. Andrena fasciata Wesm. S, skg. ; 3. Cilissa tricincta K. 5, po-cltg. and skg. 

 legitimately. 



670. M. prostrata Jacq. (Burkill, Proc. Phil. Soc, Cambridge, viii, 1894.) — 

 The flower mechanism of this species agrees with that of M. falcata, but the flowers 

 are smaller, and exploded by less pressure on the alae. 



671. M. sylvestris Fries ( = M. falcata, according to Urban, Verh. bot. Ver., 

 Berlin, xv, 1873, p. 56).— According to Burkill (Proc. Phil. Soc, Cambridge, viii, 

 1894), this species has a closer oecological resemblance to M. sativa than to M. 

 f<ilcata, for its mechanism never attains the highly explosive condition characteristic 

 of the latter. 



Visitors. — The honey-bee is by far the commonest visitor in the Cambridge 

 Botanic Garden, sucking the nectar from the side as in M. sativa. As only humble- 

 bees are able to cause explosion, 99 per cent, of the flowers remain unfertilized 

 (at Cambridge). 



Visitors. — Burkill observed the following. — 



A. Diptera. (a) Muscidae: i. Caricea tigrina F.; 2. Lucilia sericata Mg.; 



3. Sarcophaga carnaria Z. {b) Syrphidae : 4. Eristalis pertinax .S«/i. ; 5. Melithreptus 

 scriptus L. ; 6. Platycheirus manicatus Mg. ; 7. Syritta pipiens L. ; 8. Syrphus 

 balteatus Z'i'g'. ; 9. S. corollae i^. ; 10. S. luniger j^i^. ; 1 1 . S. ribesii Z. B. Hymeno- 

 ptera. Apidae: iz. Apis mellifica Z. 5. very freq. ; 13. Bombus hortorum Z. ; 

 14. B. lucorum Z. ; 15. Odynerus parietum Z. 5. C. Lepidoptera. Rhopalocera : 

 16. Pieris brassicae Z. 



672. M. lupiilina L. (Darwin, Gard. Chron., London, 1857; Herm. Miiller, 

 Fertilisation,' p. 180, ' Weit. Beob.,' II, p. 252; Kirchner, 'Flora v. Stuttgart,' 

 p. 483; Knuth, 'Bl. u. Insekt. a. d. nordfr. Ins.,' pp. 59, 152.) — The mechanism 

 of the small (scarcely 2 mm. in length) golden-yellow flowers of this species agrees 

 with that of M. sativa, but the elasticity of the upper stamens is slight. An insect- 

 visit causes the column of reproductive organs to spring out of the carina, to which 



