30 . OPHEE^. Chap. I. 



that various exotic species, both in this country and 

 in their native homes, invariably fail to yield seed- 

 capsules, when the flowers are fertilised with their own 

 pollen. 



From the observations already given, and from 

 what will hereafter be shown with respect to Gym- 

 nadenia, Habenaria, and some other species, it is a 

 safe generalisation* that species with a short and 

 not very narrow nectary are fertilised by beesf and 

 flies ; whilst those with a much elongated nectary, 

 or one having a very narrow entrance, are fertilised 

 by butterflies or moths, these being provided with 

 long and thin proboscides. We thus see that the 

 structure of the flowers of Orchids and that of 

 the insects which habitually visit them, are corre- 

 lated in an interesting manner, — a fact which has 

 been amply proved by Dr. H. Muller to hold good 

 with many of the Orchideas and other kinds of 

 plants. 



With respect to Orchis pyramidalis, which possesses, 

 as we have seen, an elongated nectary, Mr. Bond was 

 so kind as to send me a large number of Lepidoptera, 

 out of which I selected twenty-three species, enumer- 

 ated in the following list, with the poUinia of this 

 Orchid, which can easily be recognised, attached to 

 their proboscides. 



* Some remarks to this effect near the Jardin de la Faoulte (at 



were given in my "Notes on Toulouse?) complained that his 



the Fertilisation of Orchids," in bees returned from the garden 



' Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist.' with their heads charged with 



Sept. 1 869, p. 2. yellow bodies, of which they could 



t M. Me'uifere (in 'Bull. Bot. not free themselves. This is good 



Soc de France,' torn. i. 1854, p. evidence how firmly the pollinia 



370) says he saw in Dr. Gue'pin's are attached. There is, however 



collection, bees collected at Sau- nothing lo show whether the pol- 



raur with the pollinia of Orchids liuia in these cases belonged to 



attached to their heads ; and he the genus Orchis or to some other 



states that a person who kept bees genus of the family. 



