228 SHORT NOTES. 



a common species which makes small nests on the under-side of 

 leaves. It has dark red thoraces and a black abdomen with a 

 single yellow ring. That many of the smal'er wasps prey on 

 caterpillars is well known. The peculiarity in this case was that 

 it attacked a leaf- miner and absolutely followed up its burrow 

 under the epidermis. 



H. N. Ridley. 



On the Fertilization of Grammatophyllum. 



On account of the fertilization of Grammatophyllum speciosum 

 was published by myself in the Journal of the Linnean Society 

 vol. xx p. 336, where it was shown that the black and red 

 hornet Vespa ciocta was the usual agent in the transference of 

 pollen from one flower to another The orchid flowers in Aug- 

 ust and September and I note that this year in the Botanic 

 Gardens Singapore none of these insects are about, but the 

 wild bee Apis dorsalis is at work and is an equally good fer- 

 tilizer. But the insects which are most abundant on and about 

 the flowers are small hymenoptera too small to be able to touch 

 the pollenmasses, and ants, and also the large carpenter bees. 

 Xylocopa aestua?is and X. latipes. These visit the flowers more 

 abundantly than the Apis, going round to each newly opened 

 flower and plunging into it to suck the honey from the base of 

 the lip. These insects hov/ever do not remove the pollen, 

 although there seems at first sight no reason for their not doing 

 so. The reason for this is that the lip of the flower is moveable 

 on its base, and though these carpenter bees, much thicker than 

 the Vespa, and Apis would fill up the space between the lip and 

 column were the lip i nmobile and so touch with their thoraces 

 the pollen masses, tfteir weight on the lip bends it down so that 

 they do not quite touch it, and thus they back out of the flower 

 without removing the pollen. In this case the mobility of the 

 lip is really injurious to the flower, as it allows the carpenter 

 bees to remove the honey without fertilizing the flower, and by so 

 doing preventing an Apis or Vespa who might come later from 

 visiting the honey-less flower. In the wild haunts of Grammato- 

 phylium Xylocopas are as plentiful as Apis or Vespa and 



Jour. Straits Branch 



