Not only are orchids and other flowers adapted to fertilisation by means of insects, but many insects display special adaptations to their habit of visiting flowers. Butterflies, bees, and many other insects, possess mouth organs modified for the purpose of penetrating flowers to secure nectar or pollen. Other insects, again, are not so fortunate in this respect. Darwin[37] on one occasion “found an extremely minute Hymenopterous insect vainly struggling to escape, with its head cemented by the hardened viscid matter to the crest of the rostellum and to the tips of the pollinia (of an orchid, _Listera ovata_, Fig. 4). The insect was not so large as one of the pollinia, and after causing the explosion had not strength enough to remove them; it was punished for attempting a work beyond its strength, and perished miserably.” [Illustration: FIG. 4.—_Listera ovata_ (after Barla, “Flora of Nice,” 1868). ] Many insects, well adapted for the purpose, delight themselves by sucking the nectar of flowers. Many others would wish to do the same, but their want of adaptation baffles them. A small “lady-bird” loves the sweet juice of flowers; it tries often to suck the nectar of the dandelion, but without success. Hermann Müller[38] has described the behaviour of this insect in procuring the nectar of _Erodium cicutorium_. “The awkward way in which this beetle, unadapted to feed on the plants, endeavours to obtain the honey, is too ludicrous not to be mentioned. After taking up a position on the petal, it puts its mouth in the direction of one of the honeycups which are situated on both sides of the base of the petal. The petal soon breaks off, upon which the insect fixes itself on a neighbouring sepal or falls to the ground with the petal. In the first case it proceeds to creep over the flower and ends by detaching all the petals; in the other case, on recovering from the shock, it quickly ascends another stem of the same plant and begins again. I have seen the same lady-bird fall four times in succession with petals which it had detached without gaining wisdom.”