The Pyramid Orchis 



loose in the pocket, yet in the tissues under the skin 

 are copious sweet juices, so copious that they ooze 

 out in drops if the end be cut off. Therefore, Darwin 

 came to the conclusion that butterflies and moths 

 actually pierce the skin and suck the juice out of 

 the tissues. Perhaps the little extra time this takes 

 is the very time that the poUinia need to get 

 safely mounted on their saddles. 



Finally, the insect backs out and flutters gaily 

 away, carrying the twin riders. At first they are 

 erect enough, but within half a minute they have 

 fallen slightly away from one another. Over another 

 flower hovers the butterfly; in it plunges, and 

 as it does so the two pollinia-riders strike on the 

 sticky surfaces of the two stigmas, for the exact 

 angle at which they fell apart is the exact position 

 that will cause them to do this. The stickiness is 

 sufficient to drag some of the pollen grains out of 

 them, tearing their elastic threads, and these fertilise 

 the stigma. The rest of the poUinia ride off again. 

 But the proboscis of the insect has now an additional 



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