ANATOMY. 255 



servoir perfectly empty ; but in those returning 

 from the fields, it was quite full of honey, some 

 of which had passed into the stomach. 



The MANDIBLES or upper jaws move horizon- 

 tally, and are armed with teeth. 



The MAXILLA or under jaws are situated below 

 the mandibles, have a similar motion, and form, 

 according to Linnaeus, the sheath of the tongue. 

 De Geer regarded them as part of the apparatus 

 of the under lip, on each side of which they are 

 placed. 



The mandibles are powerful organs, hard and 

 horny, and constitute the tools with which the bee 

 performs its various labours ; the maxillae on the 

 contrary are soft and leathery : the latter pro- 

 bably serve to hold such materials as the former 

 have occasion to operate upon. 



The ANTENNAE. Of all the organs of insects, 

 none appear to be of more importance than their 

 antennae : in all the tribe they are planted either 

 between or below the eyes ; and no insect has 

 more than two : in their general structure, they 

 consist of a number of tubular joints, each having 

 a separate motion, which gives them every variety 

 of flexure. The antennae of the male have one 

 more joint than those of the female, the former 

 having thirteen, the latter only twelve. They 

 seem to enable the insects, by certain signs and 

 gestures, to communicate to each other their 



