THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
159 
him feeding on Salix Phylicifolia. Li- 
thosia Helveola is being reared by Mr. 
Prest ; the eggs hatched in August, and 
the larvae were still feeding on the 1st of 
January. 
“ A new code of rules has been 
adopted, which it is hoped will act bene- 
ficially to the Society. 
“ In accordance with the wishes of the 
members it has been resolved to hold the 
meetings in rotation at the residence of 
each member who offers suitable accom- 
modation. 
“ The Committee cannot conclude 
without expressing a hope that the next 
Annual Report will not be destitute of 
some indication that other branches of 
Entomology have been studied ; and that 
during the ensuing year each member, 
•whilst engaged in the prosecution of his 
favourite pursuit, will carefully note facts 
and observations in reference to the other 
branches. Many interesting discoveries 
might thus be recorded in relation to the 
Entomology of this locality, affording a 
valuable contribution to the Natural 
History of the British islands.” 
R. Anderson, Hon. Sec. 
Coney Street, York ; 
Jan. 12, 1861. 
ON THE FERTILIZATION OF BRITISH 
ORCHIDS BY INSECT AGENCY. 
BY C. DARWIN, ESQ., F.K.S. 
[Reprinted, from the 'Gardener's Chronicle’ of 
February 9, 1861.) 
I am much obliged to Mr. Marshall, 
of Ely, for his statement that the fifteen 
plants of fly orchis ( Ophrys muscifera) 
which does not grow in his neigh- 
bourhood, but which flourished in his 
garden, had not one of their pollen- 
masses removed. The Orchis maculata , 
on the other hand, which likewise does 
not grow in the neighbourhood, had all 
its pollen-masses removed. Mr. Mar- 
shall is not perhaps aware that different 
insects haunt different orchids, and are 
necessary for their fertilization. From 
the wide difference in shape of the 
flowers of Orchis and Ophrys I should 
have anticipated that they would be 
visited and fertilized by different insects. 
In Listera, for instance, it is chiefly Ich- 
neumonidae, and sometimes flies, which 
by day perform the marriage ceremony. 
In the case of most orchids it is noc- 
turnal moths. Orchis pramidalis, how- 
ever, is visited by Zygcena, and I have 
examined one of these day Sphynxes 
with three pairs of pollen-masses firmly 
attached to its proboscis. There can 
hardly be a doubt that the butterfly 
orchis is visited by different moths from 
most of the smaller orchids ; and I have 
recognised its peculiar pollen-masses 
attached to the sides of the face of cer- 
tain moths. It is probable that the same 
kind of moths would visit all the species 
of true Orchis which closely resemble 
each other in structure. Thus the Orchis 
conopsea, planted in a garden some miles 
from where any native plant grew, had 
its pollen-masses removed ; so this is a 
parallel case with that of O. maculata 
given by Mr. Marshall. I have also 
transplanted the rare Malaxis to a place 
about two miles from its native bog, and 
it was immediately visited by some in- 
sect, and its pollen-masses were re- 
moved. 
On the other hand, the Epipactis lati- 
folia, growing in my garden and flowering 
well, had not its pollen-masses removed ; 
though in its own home, several miles 
distant, the flowers are regularly visited, 
