10, Lower Park Fields, | Putney, | London, SW.
14th. Feb. 1870.
Dear Sir,
In your most interesting “Notes on the ⟨fertiliz⟩ation of Orchids”, in Ann. & Mag. of ⟨Nat.⟩ Hist., Sep. 18691 (which I have just ⟨care⟩fully re-perused with the view of extracting ⟨ma⟩tter for the Coleoptera of Zoological Record, 1869, now in my hands), I find no specification of any species of beetles except Malthodes brevicollis; and, therefore, venture to draw your attention (if you have not, indeed, already observed the same yourself) to the publication, about the same time as your Notes, by Girard, in the Annales d. l. Soc. Entom. ⟨d⟩e France, 1869, Bulletin, p. xxxi, of ⟨c⟩ertain observations, from which it appears ⟨th⟩at two species of Longicornes, viz., ⟨Strangal⟩ia nigra, Linn., and S. atra, Fab., ⟨assist⟩ in the fecundation of Orchidaceæ, ⟨by d⟩etaching glutinous pollen.2 Possibly, M. ⟨Girard⟩ is already a correspondent of yours: ⟨but, u⟩nder any circumstances, you will ⟨doubtless⟩ excuse my writing thus, although ⟨pers⟩onally unknown to you. My connection ⟨with Mr.⟩ G. R. Waterhouse emboldens me to this.3
⟨Yours tr⟩uly— | ⟨E. C. Rye.⟩
Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7106,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on