20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IO3 



the base of the ligula they are inflected laterad of the saHvary opening 

 (B), and are then continued as a pair of slender processes (i) that 

 support the bases of the paraglossae laterally, and finally curve in- 

 ward to form a pair of fulcral points articulating with the base of 

 the tongue (/). The subligular plate (C, k) is directly continuous 

 from the prementum, but is flexible on the latter, and its apex is 

 produced into the rod (rd) that traverses the channel of the tongue. 



The long, cylindrical, densely hairy glossal tongue of the honey bee 

 has a closely ringed structure, in which hard circles bearing the hairs 

 alternate with membranous smooth areas (fig. 6 D) , so that the organ 

 is both flexible and contractile. The posterior, or under, surface 

 presents a narrow median groove (C, sc) that expands within the 

 tongue into a wide thin-walled channel. The inner wall of the channel 

 is traversed by a slender, elastic rod (rd), which is itself grooved 

 on its outer surface (E), and the groove is fringed with small hairs 

 directed distally. The lips of the glossal channel spread apart at the 

 base of the tongue (C) and expose the proximal end of the rod, 

 which is here seen to be directly continuous with the apex of the 

 subligular plate (C, E, k). Distally the rod ends in a small, freely 

 projecting, spoon-shaped terminal lobe of the tongue, known as the 

 flahellutn (G, Fbl). The convex under surface of the flabellum is 

 smooth, but the distal margin and the upper surface are covered 

 with small branched hairs. The base of the tongue is somewhat 

 thickened; anteriorly it is covered by a hard, bonnet-shaped sclerite 

 (F, H, j) decurved abruptly before the salivary orifice and produced 

 distally in a tapering plate on the tongue surface. The basal sclerite 

 is embraced laterally by the fulcral processes {i) of the ligular arms 

 of the prementum, which hold the tongue firmly in place, but allow 

 it to revolve freely in a vertical plane on the transverse axis between 

 their opposing points. 



The paraglossae are thin, elongate lobes arising from the common 

 ligular base at the sides of the tongue (fig. 6 A, B, C, Pgl), where 

 they are attached to the sides of the distal process of the ligular arms 

 (B, i) that form the fulcral points of the tongue. The concave mesal 

 surfaces of the paraglossae clasp the base of the tongue (A) and 

 underlap its posterior surface, thus covering the proximal end of the 

 tongue channel. The paraglossae automatically assume this position ; 

 they are not individually movable, since no muscles are attached 

 directly on them. 



The salivary ejection apparatus, which may be termed the salivary 

 syringe, opens by a wide aperture situated, as already noted, anteriorly 

 at the distal end of the prementum just behind the declivous base of 



