52 Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



so accuratel}' closed hy the hypopharynx, that it is decidedly more 

 difficult of demoustration, than the tubular nature of the tongue. 



Note upon the Habit of some Bees of Slitting the Corolla with 

 THE Tongue to Reach the Nectary. 



That humble bees frequently pierce the corolla of flowers, near its 

 base, with their proboscis, which they then insert into the opening thus 

 made, has been long known, and frequentl}' mentioned. In the cor- 

 respondence, in Nature, if I am not mistaken, frequent reference to it 

 will be found. Indeed, I believe it is the usual way taken by these 

 bees to reach the nectary, when the corolla is too long for the tongue 

 to reach the nectary from the mouth of the corolla, unless, indeed, the 

 flower is a very large one, large enough for the bee to enter its mouth 

 and reach the nectary in that way. 



It ma}' be that the same practice by hive bees {A^iis mellijlca) is 

 also well known, and likewise, I may have heretofore seen an account 

 of it, but if so, it has escaped my memory ; and as it may be news to 

 some of our members, besides myself, I take this opportunit}' to record 

 an observation on the subject, which I made a day or two since. 



A large bush of Weigelia rosea was literally covered with flowers 

 in all stages, from the unopened buds, to those that were withered and 

 ready to fall, and great numbers of bees swarmed over them, humble 

 bees, hive bees and mason bees, and sweat hQQ's{Andrenidai) were there 

 in abundance. The older flowers were each pierced near the base by 

 a longitudioal slit, made by hive or humble bees, which previously 

 visited them, and wheneA'er one of these bees alighted on one of these 

 flowers, it, without attempting to enter the corolla, went immediately' to 

 the base of the flower, and inserted its proboscis into the slit already 

 made; or, if the flower was a fresh one, having no slit, it proceeded 

 immediately to make one. This was instantly eflected, without trouble, 

 by the humble bees, but seemed to give the hive bees some trouble — 

 probably because the blades of the maxilhe, which are used to make 

 the slit, are weaker ur more flexible than in humble bees. Of the 

 numerous hive bees observed, only a single one attempted to enter the 

 mouth of the corolla, and it came out without going further than just 

 within the opening. On the other hand, the mason bee and Andrenida 

 went, in every instance, straight into the mouth of the flower, and never 

 attempted either to make a slit or to use one that was alread}^ made. 

 Yet one of these mason bees [Megachile) was fulh' as large as the hive 

 bees. 



