April 1SS9.J 



PSYCHE. 



193 



NOTES ON THE EPIPHARYNX, AND THE EPIPHARYNGEAL 

 ORGANS OF TASTE IN MANDIBULATE INSECTS. 



BV ALPHEUS SPRING PACKARD., PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



Reaunuir was, so far as we have been 

 able to ascertain, the first author to de- 

 scribe and figure the epipharynx, which 

 he observed in the lioney bee and bum- 

 ble bee, and calls Ja langiie., remarking 

 that it closes the opening into the oeso- 

 phagus, and that it is applied against 

 the palate.^ According to Kirby and 

 Spence,^ DeGeer^ described the epiph- 

 arynx of the wasjD : and Latreille* re- 

 ferred to it. calling it the sous labre. 



The name epipharynx was bestowed 

 upon this organ by Savigny,^ who thus 

 speaks of that of the bees: Ce pharynx 

 est, a la v^rite, non-seulement cache par 

 la levre superieure, mais encore exacte- 

 ment reconvert par un organe par- 

 ticulier que Reaumur a d^ja decrit. 

 C'est une sorte d'appendice membran- 

 eux qui est re^u entre les deux branches 

 des mdchoires. Cette partie ayant pour 

 base le bord sup^rieur du j^harynx, pent 

 prendre le nom (\'epipharyux owdi^pi- 

 glosse. 



He also describes that of diptera 



'Reaumur, Me moires pour servir a I'histoiredes in- 

 sectes, V. 5, 1740, p. 31S. pi. 2S, figs. 4, 7, 8,9, 10, 11 /. 



'Kirby and Spence, Intr. to entomologv, v. 3, 1S2S, p. 

 457- 



3De Geer, V. 2, 1778— v. 26, fig. 11. M. (Kirby and 

 Spence, pi. xii. fig. 2 K.) 



■•Latreille, Organization ext^rienre des Insectcs, p. 

 184. (Quoted from Kirby and Spence.) 



sSavigny. Memoires sur les animaux t>ans vertebres. 

 Partie ire, 1816, p. 12. 



What Walter" has lately proved to be 

 the epipharvnx of lepidoptera, was re- 

 garded bv Savigny and all subsequent 

 writers as the labrum. 



The latest account of the function of 

 this organ is that bv Cheshire, who states 

 that the tube made by the maxillae and 

 labial palpi cannot act as a suction pipe, 

 because it is open above. "This opening 

 is closed by the front extension of the 

 epipharynx which closes down to the 

 maxillae, fitting exactly into the space 

 they leave unco^•ered, and thus the tube 

 is completed from their termination to 

 the oesophagus." 



It is singular that this organ is not 

 mentioned in Burmeister's Manual of 

 entomology, in Lacordaire's Introduc- 

 tion a I'entomology, or by Newport in 

 his admirable article Insecta in Todd's 

 Cyclopedia of anatomy. 



Neither has Straus-Durckheim referred 

 to or figured it in his great work on the 

 anatomy of Melolontha vulgaris.^ 



In their excellent work on the Cock- 

 roach, Miall and Denny state that "The 

 epipharynx, which is a prominent part 



^Walter, Alfred, Beitge zur morphologie der schraet- 

 terlinge. Erster thel. Zur morphologie der schmetter- 

 lingsmundtheile. (Jena. Zelts.,v. 18, 1885, p. 752.) 



'Cheshire. Bees and bee-keeping. I. London, 1886, 

 P 93- 



^Considerations generales sur I'anatomie coraparee 

 des animaux articules, 182^ 



