170 



ESSENTIALS OF BOTANY 



Fig. 126. 



slight value to the flower ; but many beetles, all butterflies 

 and moths, and most bees have bodies roughened with 

 scales or hairs which hold a good deal of pollen entangled. 



In the common honey-bee 

 (and in many other kinds) 

 the greater part of the insect 

 is hairy, and there are special 

 collecting baskets, formed 

 by bristle-like hairs, on the 

 hind legs (Fig. 126). It is 

 easy to see the load of pol- 

 len accumulated in these 

 baskets after such a bee has 

 visited several flowers. Of 

 course the pollen which the 



A, right hind leg of a honey-bee (seen jjgg packs in the baskets and 

 from behind and within) ; B, the . ™ i i • 



: tibia. ?;,seenfromtheoutside,show- cames ott to the hive, to be 



ing the collecting basket formed of stored for food, is of no USe 

 stiff hairs. . ,,. 



m pollination. 



201. Nectar and Nectaries. — Nectar is a sweet liquid 

 which flowers secrete for the purpose of attracting insects. 

 After partial digestion in the crop of the bee, nectar 

 becomes honey. Those flowers which secrete nectar do 

 so by means of nectar glands, small organs whose structure 

 is something like that of the stigma, situated often near 

 the base of the flower, as shown in Fig. 127. Sometimes 

 the nectar clings in droplets to the surface of the nectar 

 glands ; sometimes it is stored in little cavities or pouches 

 called nectaries. The pouches at the bases of columbine 

 petals are among the most familiar of nectaries. 



202. Odors of Flowers. — The acuteness of the sense of 

 smell among insects is a familiar fact. Flies buzz about the 



