On the Tongue (Lingua) of some Hymenoptera. 41 



" II est etounant"' that this matter is not yet generally understood 

 and agreed upon among Entomologists and Apiculturists, and it is 

 still more astonishing what a mass of contradictory statements maj- 

 be compiled from works of the highest authority upon the subject, 

 and I plead this as my excuse for venturing to differ with some of the 

 magnates of Entomology and Microscopy, and venturing upon the 

 publication of my own observations on the subject; observations 

 which may be repeated ia a very little time, by any one who can 

 catch a bee, and which when made will leave no doubt whatever in 

 the observer's mind as to what the structure is, whatever may be his 

 opinion as to how the structure is used. But before proceeding to 

 detail ni}' own observations, let us first consult what has been written 

 b}'^ others, by way at least of sliowing how much confusion and differ- 

 ence of opinion exists on the subject. Thns Dr. Carpenter — than 

 whom no higher authority in Microscopy is recognized — states that 

 the tongue is a muscular organ, though Reaumer had long before 

 stated that it does not contain a single muscle, being operated by the 

 muscles of the menium to which it is in part attached, and by its own 

 elasticit}'; Cuvier also calls it membraneous and not muscular; Hogg 

 [Microscope), says that it is cylindrical; Kirby and Spence say 

 that it is flat; while Reaumer shows correctly that it is neither exactly, 

 but is something between the two; Cuvier states that the larvie of 

 bees feed on " honey and the fecundated farina of flowers,"' and " that 

 the perfect insect likewise subsists on hone3^" Yet Frederick Smith, 

 perhaps the greatest living authority on Hymenoptera, states that he 

 has taken the perfect insect in the act of feeding on bee bread, and 

 some persons say that nectar is never found further back in the intes- 

 tines than the honc}', or sucking stomach, where they contend it is 

 converted into lioney, and is then disgorged, and that the adult bees 

 never eat honey at all. 



Savigu}^ seems to be regarded as the first who denied that the tongue 

 was a sucking tube ; and yet, if I remember right, he does not in so 

 many words deny it, but when commenting on the statement of La- 

 mark, that the tongue is a tubular sucking instrument, b}' means of 

 which the bee feeds, he states, in substance, that Lamark had not in 

 vestigated the matter with sufficient care, and then proceeds to demon- 

 strate the pharynx, epipharynx, and hypopharynx, under the labrum. 

 There can, however, be little doubt that he regarded the aperture under 

 the labium as the opening through which food passed into the oeso- 

 phagus. 



Newport (Art. Insecta, in the Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physi- 

 ology) states, that " the maxilhe and labium are the only organs of the 

 Apidof employed in feeding ;" that " in the true Jpklce, which sub 

 sist entirely upon honey, they (the maxilhe) are drawn out to a great 



