IOO 
F. E. Weiss on the 
“ the primrose is never visited (and I speak after many years’ 
observation) by the larger humble bees and rarely by the smaller 
kinds.” 
These conflicting views do not of course imply inaccurate 
observations, but may be readily explained by the fact that the 
latter were made in different localities and, probably, under varying 
conditions. As I had an opportunity during the Easter vacation of 
observing large quantities of primroses near Church Stretton in 
Shropshire, it seemed to me important to make some more obser¬ 
vations on the visits of insects to these plants with a view of 
helping to settle this somewhat vexed question. I confined my 
observations mainly to two large patches of primroses, on the 
east and west of a narrow lane a portion of Watling Street. 
Both positions were sheltered from the prevalent north-westerly 
winds, which were often strong and sometimes bitterly cold. I 
visited one or both of these places on eight successive days between 
11 a.m. and 1 p.m., staying from half-an-hour to an hour on each 
occasion, and each time I was able to observe some insects visiting 
the flowers. Taking the eight occasions together the flowers at 
these two places were visited by 
17 Bombylius major L., 
3 Bombas terrestris L., 
7 Anthophora fareata P z (6 $ and Id'), 
1 Apis mellifica L., 
and by numerous (more than 20) Andrena Gwynana K. 
On two occasions observations were made on two other stations 
and yielded 
3 Bombylius , 
4 Bombas , 
5 Anthophore , 
2 Apis, 
numerous Andrenas. 
The number of insects varied greatly on different days, owing 
to considerable differences in the temperature, and to different 
amounts of sunshine. 
It will be noted that Bombylius was the most frequent of 
the long tongued insects, and was a far more regular visitor than 
the Andrenae, which, though present in considerable numbers on the 
19th and 20th of April when the sun was powerful and the wind 
less strong, were absent during the earlier days, when there was 
less sun and a stronger wind. Bombylius, indeed, was the most 
