INSECTS IN RELATION TO PLANTS 2/1 



which entangle pollen grains. These are combed out of the 

 gathering hairs by means of special pollen combs (Fig. 263, 

 C,pc) on the inner surface of the proximal segment of the hind 

 tarsus, the middle legs also assisting in this operation. From 

 these combs, the pollen is transferred to the pollen baskets, or 

 corbicnla (Fig. 263, A, co), of the outer surface of each hind 

 tibia; by crossing the legs, the pollen from one side is trans- 

 ferred to the corbiculum of the opposite side, the spines (ss) on 

 the posterior margin of the tibia serving to scrape the pollen 

 from the combs. Arriving at the nest, the hind legs are thrust 

 into a cell and the mass of pollen on each corbiculum is pried 

 out by means of a spur situated at the apex of the middle tibia 

 (Fig. 263, B, s), this lever being slipped in at the upper end 

 of the corbiculum and then pushed along the tibia under the 

 mass of pollen ; the spur is used also in cleaning the wings, 

 which explains its presence on queen and drone, as well as 

 worker, but the pollen-gathering structures of the hind legs 

 are confined to the worker. This is true also of the wax- 

 pincers of the hind legs (Fig. 263, A, C, w) at the tibio-tarsal 

 articulation; these nippers are used by the worker to remove 

 the wax plates from the abdomen. 



For cleaning the antennae, a front leg is passed over an 

 antenna, which slips into a semicircular scraper (Fig. 263, 

 D, a) fashioned from the basal segment of the tarsus; when 

 the leg is bent at the tibio-tarsal articulation, an appendage, or 

 velum (v), of the tibia falls into place to complete a circular 

 comb, through which the antenna is drawn. This comb is 

 itself cleaned by means of a brush of hairs (b) on the front 

 margin of the tibia. A series of erect spines (sp) along the 

 anterior edge of the metatarsus is used as an eye brush, to 

 remove pollen grains or other foreign bodies from the hairs 

 of the compound eyes. The labium, hypopharynx and max- 

 illae (Fig. 54) are exquisitely constructed with reference to 

 gathering and sucking nectar; the maxillae are used also to 

 smooth the cell walls of the comb; the mandibles (Fig. 45, C). 

 notched in queen and drone but with a sharp entire edge in the 



