230 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



The tongue of the female is double, 

 and the line of separation is shown 

 in the figure in which she is repre- 

 sented as lying on her back. Both 

 male and female were accurately copied 

 from specimens of the average size and 

 form. 



In this sketch, an under-sized male is 

 represented.* His color was so dark 

 that, but for the tongue, he might easily 

 have been mistaken for a female of a 

 different and much smaller species.f 



These insects are seldom seen on the whig, unless started 

 from their lurking places about the hives, until towards 

 dark. On cloudy days, however, the female may be 

 noticed endeavoring, before sunset, to gain an entrance 

 into the hives. " If disturbed in the daytime," says Dr. 

 Harris, "they open their wings a little, and spring or 

 glide swiftly away, so that it is very difficult to seize or to 

 hold them.J In the evening, they take wing, when the 



* The legs are shown in this figure. In the sitting position, they are usually 

 concealed, as in the preceding figures. These drawings appear to better advantage 

 in Plate XIII. 



t As all the specimens submitted to Mr. Tidd were taken from two adjoining 

 hives, very late in the Fall, it is possible that observations at some other season, 

 and in different localities, may confirm the view of those who believe that ther 

 are two species. Mr. Tidd, while experimenting to ascertain the sexes, found that 

 a female, as soon as she was pinned fast, thrust out her ovipositor, which works 

 with a telescopic motion, and began to feel for some crevice in which to deposit 

 her eggs. Some cracks being made with a small penknife in the wood to which 

 the was fastened, she at once proceeded to fill them with eggs. Her abdomen 

 was then cut off, and the egg-laying process continued as before, while the rest of 

 the body leisurely walked away I The abdomen was now dissected, so as to show 

 the duvets of the ovaries, and, even in this mutilated condition, she thrust out her 

 ovipositor, all the while carefully seeking for appropriate crevices in which to 

 deposit her eggs ! I have repeated, with similar results, these experiments, so sug- 

 gestive of curious speculations as to insect volition. 



$ They are surprisingly agile, both on foot and on the wing, the motions of a bee 

 being very slow, in comparison. " They are," says Keaumur, " the most nimble- 

 footed creatures that I know." 



