HYMENOPTERA OR BEES, ANTS, WASPS, ETC. 



59 



peculiar spine at the end of the tibia which is used for 

 cleaning the wings and for prying off the masses of pollen 

 which are carried on the hind legs. The third leg has a 

 number of interesting devices for gathering and trans- 

 porting pollen; on the outer side of the tibia there is a 

 concavity bordered with stiff hairs, called the pollen 

 basket, and if one watches bees that come in from the fields, 

 these baskets may often be seen filled out with their yellow 

 masses of pollen. How does the bee manage to get the 

 pollen into the basket? This is done by means of the 



FIG. 51. Legs of worker bee. A , lower part of third leg seen from the 

 outside, pb, pollen basket; ts, tarsus; B, inner face of metatarsus showing 

 the pollen comb pc and the wax pincers, wp\ C, part of first leg showing the 

 antenna cleaner, ac, and the eye brush, eb. 



pollen combs on the inner side of the metatarsal joint. 

 These combs consist of a number of rows of spines which 

 are used to comb out the pollen entangled in the hairs of 

 the bee's fuzzy body, and when they are filled the bee 

 crosses its legs and rakes off the pollen from one comb into 

 the basket of the opposite leg. Another ingenious device 

 is shown in the wax pincers which are formed by the ex- 

 tended edges of the tibia and metatarsus at the place where 

 they come together; these pincers are used for seizing 



