FERTILIZATION IN THE HONEY-BEE Dap eS 
of the duct, and occludes the lumen in this region. To it the 
function has been assigned by Adam of holding the egg against 
the mouth of the duct when fertilization is to be accomplished. 
A space posterior to this tongue allows for its depression on pas- 
sage of the egg. 
Beyond this region and anterior to it, the vagina shows a 
curious modification. ‘The main tract extends forward (m), 
slanting a little ventrally, as a passage with a deeply folded wall, 
broad in the transverse direction, flattened dorsoventrally. 
From the anterior angles of this rectangular passageway lead 
the oviducts (0), by lateral passages that open from the outer 
sides of the vagina into the medial aspects of the posterior ends 
of the oviducts (at p). Along the midventral line of this portion 
of the vagina runs a narrow slit, or fossa (n), deepening toward 
the anterior end, and extending slightly beyond the apertures 
of the oviducts, to terminate as a short blind pocket just under 
the ganglion (q), which straddles the end of the vagina and the 
crotch of the oviducts. The whole region is enveloped by a 
heavy muscle mass, the finer anatomy of which has not been 
analyzed. 
In the first or ascending region of the vaginal tract (g) the 
dorsal and ventral walls of the vagina are apposed, and a cross 
section shows as a horizontal slit. The walls of the medial 
portion (h) are deeply folded and wrinkled, and a cross-section 
approaches a horizontal oval with wrinkled margins. Anteriorly 
to the ventral tongue the horizontal wall is apposed to a ledge 
on either side of the deep fossa (n), while the walls of this fossa 
are apposed laterally. The cross-section of this region therefore 
shows asa T. 
In copulation the arrangement of the bursal structure facili- 
tates the penetration of the drone organ. When the genital 
aperture is opened, by depressing the ventral anal plate, and the 
sting is slightly withdrawn, the bursa may be readily observed. 
This condition is also obtained by holding the female between 
the fingers or by ‘etherizing her, when the anal plates gape 
open. 
