44 BRITISH BEES. 



sits it, according to the nature of the bee, upon the pos- 

 terior tibim and plantm, or upon the venter. The evi- 

 dence of this process is speedily manifested by the 

 posterior legs gradually exhibiting an increasing pellet 

 of pollen. Thus, for this purpose, all the legs of the 

 bees are more or less covered with hair. It is the man- 

 dibles which are chiefly used in their boring or excavat- 

 ing operations, applying their hands, or anterior tarsi, 

 only to clear their way; but by the constructive or 

 artisan bees they are used both in their building and 

 mining operations, and are worked like trowels to collect 

 moist clay, and to apply it to the masonry of their 

 habitations. 



The mesothorase, or central division of the thorax, has 

 inserted on each side near the centre the four wings, 

 the anterior pair articulating beneath the squamulee, or 

 wing scales, which cover their base like an epaulette, and 

 this wing scale often yields a specific character. In 

 repose the four wings lie, horizontally, along the body, 

 over the abdomen, the superior above, the inferior beneath. 

 The wings themselves are transparent membranes, in- 

 tersected by threads darker than their own substance, 

 called their nervures, which are supposed to be tubular. 

 These nervures and the spaces they enclose, called cells, 

 are used in the superior wing only, and only occasion- 

 ally, as subsidiary generic characters, and their termi- 

 nology it will be desirable to describe, as use will be 

 made subsequently of it. At the same time, to facili- 

 tate the comprehension of the terms, an illustrative dia- 

 gram is appended; but those parts only will be de- 

 scribed which have positive generic application. I may, 

 however, first observe that upon the expansion of the 

 wings in flight, the insect has the voluntary power 



