332 



ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



by the trochanter, femur, tiria, and five-jointed tarsus, or 

 foot. (Figs. 215, 216.) 



The worker Bee's prothoracic legs show the following special- 

 izations. The femur and tibia are covered with long, branched 

 feathery hairs which aid in gathering pollen when the Bee 

 visits flowers: the tibia, near its junction with the tarsus, bears a 

 group of stiff bristles (pollen rrush) which is used to brush to- 

 gether the pollen grains that have been dislodged by the hairs of 



an 



Fig. 217. — Foot of the Honey Bee in the act of climbing, showing the 

 'automatic' action of the pul villus. A, position of foot on a slippery surface; 

 B, position of foot in climbing on a rough surface; C, section of a pul villus just 

 touching a flat surface; D, the same applied to the surface, an, claw; cr, curved 

 rod; fh, tactile hairs; pv, pul villus; t, last segment of tarsus. (From Packard, 

 after Cheshire.) 



the upper leg-segments. On the opposite side of the leg is a com- 

 posite structure, the antenna cleaner, formed by a movable 

 plate-like process (velum) of the tibia which fits over a circular 

 notch in the upper end of the tarsus. The notch is provided with 

 a series of bristles which form the teeth of the antenna comr. 

 The antennae, or 'feelers,' which are important sense organs of 

 the head, are cleaned by being placed in the toothed notch and, 

 after the velum is closed down, drawn between the bristles and 

 the edge of the velum. On the anterior face of the first segment 

 of the tarsus is a series of bristles (eye rrush) which is used to 

 remove pollen and other particles adhering to the hairs on the 

 head about the large compound eyes and interfering with their 

 operation. 



The terminal segment of the tarsus of each leg is provided with 

 a pair of notched claws, a sticky pad (pulvillus), and a group 

 of tactile hairs. When the Bee is walking up a rough surface, 

 the points of the claws catch and the pulvillus does not touch, 

 but when the surface is smooth, so that the claws do not grip, 

 they are drawn beneath the foot. This change of position applies 

 the pulvillus, and it clings to the smooth surface. Thus the charac- 



