602 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



surface of which is mostly well provided with oblique rows of long 

 bristles. The maxillae (K) and part of the labial palpi (T) are modi- 

 fied into flat, leaf-like, linear processes, which are arranged around the 

 tongue (R), and thus complete the suctorial proboscis. While, there- 

 fore, the suctorial apparatus of the butterfly consists simply of a coil- 

 ing or suctorial tongue, it must be noted that in the bee other parts 

 are concerned in the formation of the tubular sucking apparatus. In 

 many bees, besides, the tip of the tongue is peculiarly modified, so 

 as to enable the insect to taste the honey before beginning to col- 

 lect it, an arrangement by which honey of unpleasant taste can be 

 rejected. 



Apparatus foe collecting Pollen. Of all insects the bees alone 

 have certain parts of their body specialized for the collection of pollen. 

 The structures developed for this end are in their way perfect. They 

 may be found either on the ventral surface of the posterior portion of 

 the body or on the legs. Accordingly, bees may thus be divided into 

 two groups : 1. Bees having structures for the collection of pollen on 

 the ventral surface of the body ; and, 2. Bees having such structures 

 on their legs. To the first group belong the mason-bees ( Osmia) and 

 the leaf-cutter bees (Megachile). In these species the ventral surface 

 of the abdomen is furnished with long, stiff, retroverted hairs, by means 

 of which the pollen is brushed from the anthers as the insect passes in 

 or out of the flower. The grains get entangled among the hairs, from 

 among which the bee afterward dislodges them by means of its legs. 



This contrivance is admirably adapted for obtaining pollen from 

 flowers having a flat corolla, but not for such as have the anthers con- 

 cealed in a deep tube. Our most highly developed bees (humble-bees, 

 honey-bees, etc.) have therefore apparatus suitable for collecting pollen 

 from flowers of all shapes. 



The most highly developed bees collect the pollen on the hind-legs, 

 but all do not possess the structures adapted to this purpose in like per- 

 fection. Fig. 17 represents one of the hind-legs of the hairy-bee (An- 

 thophora retusa, compare Fig. 13) ; we here see the trochanter (R), the 

 femur (S), the tibia (T), the tarsus (P), the four other joints of the 

 foot (F), and, finally, the two claws (K). The tarsus (P) and the tibia 

 (T) bear the structures by which the pollen is collected ; both are seen 

 to be laden with many grains of pollen (left white in the illustration). 

 The tibia and tarsus are broad and flat, and are thickly covered with 

 hairs. The pollen is brushed from the anthers by means of the hairs 

 on the tarsus (P), and is afterward transferred to those of the tibia (T), 

 where they are suffered to remain until the hive is reached. In the 

 humble-bee (Fig. 18, Bombus terrestris) the same arrangements are 

 carried out in yet greater perfection. The tibia (T) is smooth on the 

 outer surface, while the inner surface is covered with long, stiff hairs, 

 which form with the surface of the tibia a little depression, into which 

 the pollen is brushed by the short hairs of the tarsus. In the honey- 



