46 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 65 



ones on the antennae to the largest ones on the maxillae and labial 

 palpi ; the peglike hairs, from the short and thick ones on the maxillae 

 to the saber-shaped ones on the labial palpi and maxillae. The spine- 

 like hairs were found on all the mouth-parts, pharyngeal plate, an- 

 tennae, in the buccal cavity, all over the head and on the cervical plate. 

 The peglike hairs were observed only on the antennae, maxillae and 

 labial palpi. 



Judging from the disposition and innervation of the hairs under 

 discussion, the tactile sense in the honey bee is highly developed. The 

 application of this perception easily explains how bees are able to 

 perform their many duties, such as caring for the brood, building 

 comb, etc. 



The act of eating liquid foods is accomplished by capillary attrac- 

 tion, and by the pumping force of the pharynx. 



Olfactory pores were found at the bases of the tongue and labial 

 palpi, on the maxillae near the maxillary palpi, widely distributed over 

 the mandibles, on the cervical plate, in the buccal cavity, on the sides 

 of the head and on the scapes of the antennae. Their structure is 

 identical with that of the olfactory pores on the legs, wings and sting, 

 and therefore their function should be the same. 



DISCUSSION OF LITERATURE 



A review of the literature pertaining to the sense organs on the 

 mouth-parts and to the gustatory sense of insects shows so much con- 

 fusion in regard to the names of the various sense organs and their 

 probable functions that it is impossible to classify the various struc- 

 tures correctly. The present writer has separated all the sense organs 

 on the mouth-parts of the honey bee into olfactory pores and inner- 

 vated or tactile hairs, the latter group being divided into spinelike and 

 peglike hairs. Other writers have called the hairs setae, pegs, cones, 

 bristles, or just " hairs," and the few who have seen the olfactory 

 pores have called them taste-pits, taste-cups, taste-papillae or beaker- 

 shaped organs, etc. Let us consider the olfactory pores first. 



Meinert (1861) seems to be the first to suggest that insects have 

 gustatory organs. He described a row of chitinous canals on the 

 maxillae and base of the tongue of ants. He thought they were inner- 

 vated and might serve as gustatory organs. Forel (1873) saw the 

 same or similar structures on the maxillae and tongue of Formica, 

 and he called them gustatory papillae. 



Wolff (1875) first described the olfactory pores on the base of the 

 tongue of the honey bee. He called them taste-beakers in analogy 



