228 GEO. H. BISHOP 
A detailed consideration of this literature, even of that part 
of it which deals specifically with the organ of copulation, will 
not be undertaken here. The morphology of the organs and the 
complex adaptations for mating have been adequately descr.bed, 
and in general there is no serious disagreement as to the position 
of the insects or the relation of their organs in copulation. How- 
ever, the physiology of the process has been almost entirely 
ignored. The functioning of the ‘mucous gland’ has received 
little more than speculative attention; the disposal of the sperm 
in the queen’s organs has scarcely aroused curiosity, and the 
intricacies of functioning of the internal sexual organs of the 
drone seem to have escaped notice for the most part. The 
present paper is rather an attempt to supplement the morpho- 
logical data with physiological, than to controvert the facts 
established. The papers above cited are therefore not of im- 
‘mediate bearing on the work under consideration, other than as 
a point of departure. For a detailed description of the anatomy 
of the sexual apparatus the reader may be referred to any of the 
more recent papers (as Snodgrass). A brief and general summary 
will suffice to present the anatomical picture necessary to an 
understanding of the work which follows. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE MALE ORGANS 
The mating flight of the queen bee takes place at least five 
days after the emergence of the imago, and probably ten or more 
days after the emergence of the drone. The rapidly flying insects 
meet inthe air, the drones in pursuit. According to the reports 
of eye witnesses and to the evidence from examination of the 
drone organ left in the queen’s vagina after copulation, they 
clasp face to face and drop at once to the ground. The drone 
is stunned and soon dies. The queen twists the drone organ in 
two, by flying or crawling in a circle around the drone, retaining 
the portion broken off. This gradually dries up, and is pulled 
away by the bees in the hive some hours after the queen has 
returned thither. | 
