28 



THE BIOLOGY OF INSECTS 



therefore often termed the " honey-stomach," and after 

 undergoing the digestive process therein, is regurgitated 

 as honey for use in feeding the inmates of the hive or for 

 deposit in the waxen chambers of the comb. 



From the proventricukis an insect's food passes on into 



Fig. II. — A, Crop (cr), proventriculus (pv), and chyle-stomach (v) of 

 Honey Bee worker (Apis mellifica). B, The same with most of the crop- 

 wall removed to expose *' stomach-mouth " (m). X lo. C, Longitudinal 

 section through the same organs of a queen bee : 7no, stomach-mouth ; 

 vCy proventricular valve ; Im, tm, longitudinal and transverse muscle- 

 layers ; e, epithelium ; ct, cuticular lining ; g, gelatinous secretion 

 whence peritrophic membrane is formed. X 40. After Snodgrass. 



the stomach (ventriculus or mid-gut (Figs. 10, 11, v), 

 usually cylindrical in form. This is lined by a sheet of 

 columnar cells, v^hich may have their free surfaces thickened 

 to form an intima, or the cells may project as fine processes 



