From J. A. Gammie 16 February 1874
Government of | India
Note for Mr. Darwin
The flowers of Hedychium Gardnerianum are much frequented by Sphinx moths.1 I discovered this six or seven years ago, and ever since, in the season, have taken advantage of the discovery, to obtain sphinxes, by bringing a few heads of Hedychium flowers to my open verandah for the purpose of attracting these creatures, and immediately after dusk several were sure to make their appearance and hover about the flowers. I did not observe that the tips of these insects wings were bedaubed with pollen, but as I did not direct my attention to this particular point, they may have been so without my observing it— I cannot at present, with absolute certainty, send specimens of Sphinxes actually caught on the Hedychium Gardnerianum, but when the season comes round again shall secure, and forward specimens—
J. Gammie | Govt. Cinchona Plantations | Darjeeling—
Mongpoo2 | 16-2-74
Footnotes
Bibliography
Calendar: A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882. With supplement. 2d edition. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994.
LL: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8.
Summary
Sends his observations on the fertilisation of Hedychium gardnerianum by sphinx moths. Did not look for pollen on the wing tips.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9296A
- From
- James Alexander Gammie
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Monarpur, Darjeeling
- Source of text
- DAR 157a: 98
- Physical description
- ALS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9296A,” accessed on 17 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9296A.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22