76 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 1, NO. 1. 
sects may not appear at all for a whole day, or even for a few 
days in succession. But an hour of sunshine and calm weather is 
generally all that is needed to arouse individuals of the more 
hardy species from their lethargy and bring them to the flowers. 
Within the first two weeks of the blooming period of Erigoiia 
hiilhosa, that is, within the time usually elapsing between the ap- 
pearance of the first flowers of this plant and those of our earliest 
willow — Salix discolor Muhl., I have taken the following ten 
species of insects, visiting the flowers of Erigenia hulhosa: 
A. Hymenoptera. 
Bees — Apidae : (i) Apis niellifica, L. ; Andrenidae : (2) 
Halicttis similis, Sm. ? ; (3) Halictus confnsns, Sm. ^ — all 
sucking. 
B. Diptera (Flies). 
Tachinidae: (4) Gonia capitata, DeG.; (5) Siphona gcni- 
ciilata, DcG. : ]\Iuscidae : (6) Lucilia caesar, L. ; (7) Liicilia 
cornicina, Fahr.; (8) Pollenia rudis, Fahr.: Scatomyzidae : (9) 
Scatophaga sqiialida, Meig.; Sapromyzidae : (10) Lonchaca polita^ 
Say — all sucking or feeding on pollen. 
Of these, the three bees, and among the flies the two species 
belonging to the family of the Tachinidae are anthophilous 
(flower-loving) insects in the strict sense of the term, as they 
depend on floral diet for their own subsistence, and, so far as the 
bees are concerned, for the subsistence of their offspring besides. 
The five remaining visitors are flies, living, as a rule, on decom- 
posing organic matter, and visiting flowers occasionally to feed 
on nectar and pollen. The flies belonging to this latter group are 
the first to appear on the flowers ; they are hardy species, very 
able to withstand the effects of cold weather, and may be observed 
towards spring on sunny days and in sheltered spots long before 
the umbels of Erigenia make their appearance above the dry 
leaves. This is especially true of the dungfly (Scatophaga 
sqiialida, Mg.) and the two species of Lucilia, well known under 
the popular name blue-bottle flies. Speaking of Pollenia rudis, 
Fabr., Williston (4) remarks, that numbers of these flies may be 
observed on mild days of winter, crawling over the snow. In 
the locality where the visitors of Erigenia hulhosa were taken, 
numerous specimens of the dift'erent species referred to above 
were noticed a few days ahead of the first flowers of Erigenia, 
eagerly sucking the sap escaping from the injured stems of 
maples. From these facts it is evident that the very first flowers 
of Erigenia have an opportunity of being thoroughly and suc- 
cessfully visited, and in addition to this we see that the first visitors 
(4) S. W. Williston. Manual of N. Am. Diptera, 2d Edition, p. 141. 
