[13]

June 20/62/

George watched Orchis maculata in big woods today & in a hour caught 6 Flies (Empis livida named by Mr Wallace) with long hard proboscis, inserting proboscis into the nectaria. These all had pollinia attached to one or both spherical & rough eyes, on level with antennae - one had a pair attached to base of small antennae; one had 5 pollinia attached; another had 3, symmetrically attached & depressed. He also caught a smaller black fly (Empis pennipes) sucking but not standing in

[13v]

My son G. D who is an entomologist

[14]

symmetrical position; one of them had 5 pollinia attached to convex thorax; & the other had 3.

No less than 3 of these 8 flies with pollinia had been caught by Spiders which haunt this plant. I saw the large fly inserting proboscis, & 2 I find glued to stigma of Cattleya in hot- house. William saw a fly remove pollinia of O. maculata at Southampton. I have no doubt O. morio & mascula similarly fertilised.

The depressed pollinia were parallel to proboscis & some little way above it; excellently adapted to strike stigma

A Dr from Southampton sent me 3 flowers of O. latifolia with the smaller black fly [E. pennipes] within nectary, where he killed it.