1880. | Botany. 49 
“I cannot undertake to give an account of my observations of 
the plant, moths and bees, concerning which inquiry is made, from 
the standpoint of a scientist, which I do not claim to be, but after 
pretty close watching, continued for many days, I feel quite confi- 
dent of the general correctness of the following statement: 
“Early in September, of the present year, as I made one of m 
daily visits to the plant, to me unknown before, the Physianthus 
albens, or Arauja, I noticed among the many moths that had been 
caught in the flowers, a considerable number of tongues still in 
the traps, while all, or nearly all, else belonging to the recent 
captives had disappeared. While I stood gazing, my attention 
was arrested by two or three bees buzzing immediately around 
as many entrapped moths that were alive and struggling to get 
away. Every moment or two, the bee suddenly and furiously 
darted upon the prisoner and seemed to me to sting it despite its 
desperate efforts to escape. This onset was generally instantane- 
ous, but was repeated again and again, and, after the moth became 
still and apparently lifeless, the bee settled upon it, and, if my eyes 
did not greatly deceive me, began to devour it. I had previously 
noticed the tongues but supposed the bodies of the moths had 
been eaten by birds, though I had not actually seen it done. I 
cannot therefore positively assert what seemed to me the fact at 
the time, though I had no other thought, and the fact that so 
many of the moths had actually disappeared, leaving only their 
tongues, and, in some cases, other fragments of their bodies, in the 
shape of legs clinging to bits of casing or skin, satisfied me that the 
bees had really me on animal food as well as upon the nectar 
of surrounding flow 
“T did not apus it to be the honey bee at the time, but a 
kind of wasp, such as or similar to that whose nest I had some- 
times found in sodded banks or terraces and looked upon as an 
architectural wonder. Yet I did not examine it, and can only say 
that I saw many, or supposed I did, upon a bed of Nasturtiums 
and other flowers, a few feet distant from the Physianthus. 
“I think I have found as many as three or four different kinds 
of moths upon the plant, besides numerous small black flies 
which, unlike the moth, go down dodily into the flower. 
; THOMPSON. 
“ North Woburn, Oct. 29, 1879.” 
Upon writing nt Hermann Miiller in reference to these facts, 
he replied as follow 
“ Lippstadt, Taig 10, 1879.—Physianthus albens has been ob- 
served by Delpino as being visited by humble bees and fertilized 
by their proboscis. It isa new and very interesting fact that 
Plusia precationis is caught by the flowers of this plant and has 
been found dead suspended by its proboscis. About carnivorous 
habits of bees, my brother Fritz, in south Brazil, has observed that 
honey bees (but I do not remember oe mamont whether Re, À 
VOL. XIV.—No. 1. 4 r a a a l ANA 
