314 COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



Nectar is collected in the following manner. The maxillae 

 and the labial palpi form a tube, in the center of which the tongue 

 moves backward and forward. When the epipharynx is lowered, 

 a passage is completed into the oesophagus. The nectar is first 

 collected by the hairs on the ligula; it is then forced upward 

 by the pressing together of the maxillae and labial palpi. 



The thorax consists of three segments, each of which bears a 

 pair of legs. The anterior segment is known as the prothorax, 

 the middle segment as the mesothorax, and the posterior segment, 

 as the metathorax The mesothorax and metathorax each sup- 

 port a pair of wings. The segments of the thorax are compara- 

 tively large, since they contain the largest and most important 

 muscles of the body. Externally the thorax is covered with 

 flexible branched hairs, which are of use in gathering pollen. 



Perhaps the most interesting structures of the honey-bee are 

 the legs of the worker (Fig. 238). The parts of a typical insect 

 leg, naming them in order beginning at the proximal end, are 

 the coxa (c), trochanter (tr), femur (f), tibia (fo'),and five-jointed 

 tarsus (/). 



The prothoracic legs (Fig. 283, C) possess the following useful 

 structures. The femur (/) and the tibia (//) are clothed with 

 branched hairs for gathering pollen. Extending on one side from 

 the distal end of the tibia are a number of curved bristles, the 

 pollen brush (b in C and E), which are used to brush up the pollen 

 loosened by the coarser spines; on the other side is a flattened 

 movable spine, the velum (v in C and E) , which fits over a curved 

 indentation in the first tarsal joint or metatarsus (p in C). 

 This entire structure is called the antenna cleaner and the row 

 of teeth (F) which lines the indentation is known as the antenna 

 comb. Figure 238, H, shows in section how the antenna (a) 

 is cleaned by being pulled between the teeth (c) on the meta- 

 tarsus (/) and the edge (s) of the velum (v). On the front of the 

 metatarsus is a row of spines (eb in C) called the eye brush, 

 which is used to brush out any pollen or foreign particles lodged 

 among the hairs on the compound eyes. The last tarsal joint 



