126 ELEMENTARY LESSONS ON INSECTS 



LA BORA TOR Y PROGRA M 

 With a honeybee in hand, note: 

 I. In general. 



1. The well-knit, compact body. 



2. The massive thorax with small, closely applied meta- 

 thorax, and marginal attachment of fore and hind 

 wings. 



3. Its covering of brushes of stiff hairs above and below 

 and on the legs. If these hairs be examined with a 

 microscope they will be seen to be plumose, with grains 

 of pollen lodged in the angle of some of the branches: 

 they are pollen brushes. 



4. The closeness with which the reversible antennae and 

 the curving thighs can be applied to the body. This 

 facilitates entering the corollas of flowers. 



II. In the head, note. 



1. The wedge-shaped front — another adaptation to flower 

 probing. 



2. The prominent eyes and ocelli. 



3. The elbowed antennae. 



4. The mouthparts divided on the mid-horizontal plane 

 as to functions: 



(a) Labrum and mandibles of a somewhat simple type: 

 the mandibles are rather broad and spatulate at 

 their tips, adapted by their form to molding wax. 



(b) Maxilla and labium are together modified to form 

 a composite nectar-gathering organ — a sucking 



