The flower and the bee; plant life and pollination . to North America and in-cludes not far from 150 described species and varieties, mostcommon in the arid regions of New Mexico. In MainePerdita octomaculata is found almost exclusively on the paniclesof Solidago juncea, the earliest blooming of the goldenrods(Fig. 56), and only very rarely is met with on any other speciesof Solidago. In New Mexico two species of Perdita are foundon the willows, Perdita zebrata visits only Cleome serrulata,Perdita crotonis visits Croton texensis, Perdita alhipennis visitsHelianthus annuus (sunflower), and Perd
The flower and the bee; plant life and pollination . to North America and in-cludes not far from 150 described species and varieties, mostcommon in the arid regions of New Mexico. In MainePerdita octomaculata is found almost exclusively on the paniclesof Solidago juncea, the earliest blooming of the goldenrods(Fig. 56), and only very rarely is met with on any other speciesof Solidago. In New Mexico two species of Perdita are foundon the willows, Perdita zebrata visits only Cleome serrulata,Perdita crotonis visits Croton texensis, Perdita alhipennis visitsHelianthus annuus (sunflower), and Perdita senecionis visitsSenecio Douglasii. It may be laid down as a rule, saysCockerell, that each species of Perdita visits normally butone species of flower, but occasionally specimens may be foundon flowers to which normally they do not belong. But inmany instances several species of Perdita frequent the sameflower. Many species of Colletes, Epeolus, and Melissodes visit almostexclusively the flowers of the Compositce, as the thistles, golden- 112. Fig. 56. Early Goldenrod. Solidago juncea THE FLOWER AND THE BEE rods, and asters. Xenoglossa pruinosa confines itself to Cu-curhita Pepo, or the common field-pumpkin; while Megachilecampanuloe, one of the leaf-cutting bees, is a monotropic visitorof the bellflower Campanula americana. Many other instancesare recorded, and many more will no doubt be discovered whenour bee fauna is better known. This is certainly a very singular habit on the part of bees,and one which few would be likely to foresee. On the con-trary, it is generally supposed that bees fly about sipping sweetsindiscriminately, as they are so commonly represented by thepoets. He woos the Poppy and weds the Peach,Inveigles Daffodilly,And then like a tramp abandons eachFor the gorgeous Canada Lily. It is really getting unsafe for poets to write about Nature intheir old haphazard way, trusting chiefly to their imaginationas a guide. Fancy can supply nothing half so wonderf
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