1 88 THE EMBRYOLOGY OF THE HONEY BEE 



which it may be continuously followed, as in Stenobothrus or 

 Xiphidium, one can scarcely doubt that the metameric cell clus- 

 ters seen in the bee embryo also give rise to the oenocytes of 

 the larva. 



At Stages XII-XIV the point of origin of oenocytes is marked 

 by a minute pad or tuft of cells which stain somewhat less deeply 

 than the other hypodermal cells (Figs. 72C and D). In some sec- 

 tions the cells of this tuft are so long as to suggest the possibility 

 of the separation of some of these from the hypodermis (Fig. 

 72C), but no direct evidence of this was obtained. 



The definitive oenocytes of the larva become evident at Stage 

 XIII-XIV, owing to their large size as compared with the other 

 cells in the body cavity. From this time until hatching- their size 

 remains practically constant and is the same as that of the cells of 

 the segmentally arranged clusters of Stages X and XI, which are 

 assumed to be the embryonic oenocytes, so that the identification 

 of the oenocytes at the later stages is accordingly made possible by 

 the differentiation of the other cells in the body cavity and the 

 accompanying reduction in their size, rather than by any morpho- 

 logical change in the oenocytes themselves. 



