148 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[July 1, 1S6S. 



STINGS AND POISON GLANDS OE BEES 

 AND WASPS. 



rpiIE general structure of the sting of the bee and 

 -L of the wasp is well known to every one who 

 possesses a microscope, and who has a fair col- 

 lection of mounted objects. There are, however, in 

 the structure of stings, as in other objects, several 

 interesting particulars which are very likely to be 

 overlooked except by those whojprepare their own 

 dissections, and who take 

 greater delight in be- 

 coming acquainted witii 

 the physiological charac- 

 ters of insect structure 

 lhan in being the pos- 

 sessors of the finest set 

 of entomological prepa- 

 rations which the pro- 

 fessional mounters can 

 supply. However beau- 

 tiful an object may be 

 when well prepared, and 

 mounted in balsam with 

 skill and taste, it falls 

 very far short of supply- 

 ing the interest and in- 

 struction which it affords 

 when just dissected, and 

 in water, with all its 

 attachments, many of 

 which are either washed 

 or torn away in the pre- 

 paration for mounting, 

 or from their nature be- 

 come almost invisible 

 when flattened out and 

 set in balsam. 



These observations 

 apply with full force to 

 the stings of bees and 

 wasps. The stings them- 

 selves, with their barbed 

 lancets, are best dis- 

 played after they have 

 been bleached in tur- 

 pentine, flattened out, 

 and mounted in balsam ; 

 but then this treatment 

 either destroys the 

 poison bags and poison 

 glands, or renders them 

 almost invisible. 



The chief points of interest in the examination of 

 a sting, with its attachments, are the sheath, the 

 lancets, the poison bag, and the poison gland. 

 The humble bee affords the largest and best ex- 

 ample of these, whicji may be taken as standards of 

 comparison with those of other bees, and of wasps. 



Fig. 139. 



Sting, poison 

 Humble 



too transparent, and so 



The sheath is large, especially at the upper 

 portion ; it usually contains two lancets that lie 

 loosely within, and pass out to some distance 

 behind, where they are attached to a system of 

 levers and muscular bands, that acting on the 

 lancets, at the will of the insect, give them a motion 

 inside and along the body of the sheath, and cause 

 the barbed points to project below the point of the 

 sheath, and again as quickly to recede. The motion 

 of the lancets is said to be alternate, the one advanc- 

 ing while the other is 

 receding. One of the 

 lancets may be traced in 

 its natural position in 

 the figure, but its point 

 is concealed in the dark 

 tip of the sheath. The 

 other I have extracted, 

 and figured separately, 

 to show its form. 



Near the middle of 

 each lancet there is a 

 remarkable projection 

 (fig. 140), which, when 

 the lancet is in its 

 natural position, lies in 

 the wide portion of the 

 sheath. Similar projec- 

 tions will also be found 

 in the lancets of the 

 hive bee, but they are 

 entirely absent in the 

 lancets of the wasp, and 

 in those of some of the 

 wild bees. In these 

 latter cases the sheath 

 is narrow in the upper 

 portion, there being no 

 necessity to afford space 

 for such projections. It 

 has been conjectured 

 that their use is to direct 

 the motion of the lan- 

 cets. The lancets have 

 each one edge thin and 

 sharp, like the blade of 

 a knife ; the other edge 

 is notched at the point 

 with seven or eight sharp 

 teeth, the tips of which 

 point upwards. Near 

 the centre each lancet is strengthened by a stout 

 rib, speaking of which, a well-known microscopist 

 says, "The centre of the lancet is tubular, and 

 carries a fluid in which bubbles are visible." To 

 form an opinion on this point it becomes neces- 

 sary to examine the lancet under a high magnifying 

 power. 

 The figure subjoined represents the tip of a lancet 



bag, and poison gland of 

 Bee, x 20. 



