70 



THE ANATOMY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



l;il)s (lie side of the hull), and which carries distally the palpi of the 

 sting {St/iPlj)). Each lancet is attached at its base to a trianf/ular 

 phite (Ti'-i) which lies hitero-dorsad to the base of the oblong i)late 

 and articnlates with a knob on the dorsal edge of the latter by its 

 ventral posterior angle, liy its dorsal posterior angle the triangular 

 plate is articulated to a much larger quadrate plate (Qd) which 

 overlaps the distal half of the oblong plate. A thick membranous 

 lobe (/X/S), concave below, where it is thickly set with long hairs, 

 overlaps the liulb of the sting and is attached on each side to the 

 edges of the oblong plates. All of these parts are shown flattened out 



in ventral view by 



.-Brb fig"i'^ '^<'- 



The presence of 

 the two basal arms 

 of the sheath might 

 suggest that this 

 part is to be re- 

 garded as made np 

 of fnsed lateral 

 halves. In this case 

 we shonld have six 

 appendicular ele- 

 ments, viz, the two 

 lancets, the two 

 halves of the sheath, 

 and the two pal- 

 pnslike organs. If 

 now we turn back to 

 figure 8, showing 

 the component parts 

 of the ovipositor of 

 a longhorned grass- 

 hopper, we can not 

 fail to be struck at 

 once by the great similarity between this organ and the sting of 

 the bee (fig. 30). The first gonapophyses (10) of the ovipositor are 

 identical with the lancets (Let) of the sting, and their sliding connec- 

 tion, by means of longitudinal tracks, with the second gonapophyses 

 (3(?) suggests at once that the latter represent the sheath of the 

 sting (ShS). The identity is still more strongly suggested when we 

 observe the small bulb (SltB) formed by the fused bases of these 

 gonapophyses. The third gonapophyses {3G), Avhich inclose betAveen 

 them (he other parts of the ovipositor, represent the palpi of the 

 sting {/SfnPt/)). If. finally, we study the development of the parts of 

 the sting we are convinced that this similarity between the sting and 

 an ovii)ositor means something more than an accidental resemblance 



Fu;. i'.T. — Ventral view of stinsj of worker and accessory parts, 

 (lattennfl out. 



