| Show Insects Are Responsive to Color Red RedIs RedIs Is Not Attractive to the Honey Bees Horticulturists have known for tor a along along long time that insects are responsive sive to color In the long progress of plant hIstory flowers the botan botan- botanists tell us assumed colors turnIng theIr leaves into petals of bright hues in order to attract the wInged carrIers that had appeared in the world and would prove so 50 much more re reliable than the vagrant breezes as- as of pollen Writing in My Garden R R A For For- ster describes the progress of flowering plants learning to ad ad- ad advertise vertIse At first he says It would seem that all lowers flowers were yellow but as competition became more active other colors appeared Plants that wanted to attract the bee were careful to use some other than red since to the bee red Is not distInguishable from gray or blade black The large lowers flowers of big plants could afford strikIng in the form torm of gorgeous petals Little low plants had to manage to get themselves Into a fortunate location near these bIg opulent competitors where they could get some somo of the chance over over- overflow low flow patronage of the wInged visit tors Because insects go to their favor favor- favorIte favorite Ite colors experiments have lately been conducted at the New York AgrIcultural station that prove the effect of varIously tinted insect rides Bordeaux mixture adding to the hIgh polish on the leaves of po po- po potato tato plants definitely attracted I aphis in large numbers A mixture darkened with lead arsenate tailed failed to draw the insects Interesting de de- de developments in the tinting ot of stand stand- standard ard insecticides may result from the application ot of these facts |
