Flowers and Insecis. 85 



for alluring certain kinds of insects and elect- 

 ing them as bearers of love messages to other 

 flowers. 



Fascinating too is the story of the creation of 

 flower-forms by insects. 



We are told by one whose life was devoted to 

 reading nature's story that the flower whose color, 

 whose odor, whose nectar attract is constantly 

 visited by winged creatures whose presence results 

 in the sure transference of pollen to waiting stig- 

 mas, and consequently there results maturing of 

 seed and assurance of the continued existence of 

 the plant; while another flower whose activity ex- 

 presses itself in form or odor or color or nectar not 

 attractive to the winged world must wait in vain for 

 rejuvenescence and die at last unable to perfect 

 seed for the continuance of its life. 



Some insects are attracted by bright colors, 

 some by odors. Hence those flowers having the 

 brightest petals to guide the winged epicure to the 

 honey it loves would receive most visits, would be 

 well fertilized in consequence, and would have a 

 better chance to mature hardy seed, and so hand 

 on the color inheritance, than would less brilliant 

 flowers. 



Flowers exhaling the most powerful perfume 

 frequently attract night-flying insects, and the color 

 most readily seen at night probably being white, it 

 is believed that the whitest and most highly per- 

 fumed flowers have been most favored by pollen- 



