The flower and the bee; plant life and pollination . sagittatum)and thence to the blossoms of the smaller willow-herb {Epilo-bium molle), where its career ended in my collecting-net. When the nectar is deeply concealed in irregular flowers orlong nectaries, as in the larkspur, clover, columbine, fly-honey-suckle, and skullcap, a much greater amount of time is requiredto gather it than when it is fully exposed. Such flowers arechiefly adapted to the skilful, long-tongued bees, while beetles,flies, wasps, and many other insects are either unable to findit or have a tongue too short to reach it.
The flower and the bee; plant life and pollination . sagittatum)and thence to the blossoms of the smaller willow-herb {Epilo-bium molle), where its career ended in my collecting-net. When the nectar is deeply concealed in irregular flowers orlong nectaries, as in the larkspur, clover, columbine, fly-honey-suckle, and skullcap, a much greater amount of time is requiredto gather it than when it is fully exposed. Such flowers arechiefly adapted to the skilful, long-tongued bees, while beetles,flies, wasps, and many other insects are either unable to findit or have a tongue too short to reach it. In order to obtain thenectar more easily than by entering the flowers in the legitimateway certain bumblebees have formed the curious habit ofbiting holes in the nectaries or corolla-tubes. The holes aremade by the lacinise or lance-shaped ends of the maxillae, which are the second pair of jaws and are situatedjust below the mandibles, are composed of two joints, a basalpart called the stipe, and a terminal acutely pointed blade or 96. Fig. 49. Cream-Colored Goldenrod. Solidago hicolor THE FLOWER AND THE BEE lacinia. When these two sharp points are moved back andforth on the outer side of a nectary they may puncture it, mak-ing either a single sht or two small holes side by side. The fly-honey suckle {Lonicera ciliata) is a graceful, slendershrub, which blooms in northern woodlands during the lastweeks in May. The flower-stalk bears at its summit twopendulous, yellowish-green flowers, which are tubular and halfan inch in length. The nectar is secreted and lodged at thebase of this tube, where it can be reached by the long tonguesof bumblebees, by which the flowers are pollinated. The fe-male of Bombus vagans was often observed stealing the sweetsecretions through holes in the buds. Sometimes the perfora-tion was near the apex, but usually it was near the base of thetube, and in one instance I found the corolla nearly circumcisedand held only by a few threads. (Fig.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublishernewyorkcscribnerss
