46 



BRITISH BEES. 



small tubercle, or boss, separated from the surround- 

 ing integument by a' suture, the colouring of which fre- 

 quently yields a specific character, but its uses are not 

 known. 



The metathorax carries the posterior legs laterally 

 beneath, and in the centre,, behind, the abdomen. The 

 posterior legs are the chief organs 

 used by the majority of bees for the 

 conveyance of pollen to store in 

 their cells, or, as in the case of 

 humble-bees or the hive bee, the 

 bee bread for the food for the young, 

 or the requisite materials, in the ma- 

 jority of other bees, for nidification. 

 To this end they are either densely 

 clothed with hair throughout their 

 whole extent, — usually externally 

 only, — or this is limited to the ex- 

 ternal surface of the posterior shank. 



Fisr.13. — Posterior legs 

 1, of abnormal bee (An- 



;!orilWV"™5tt In the social bees this shank is edged 

 parasitic bee (Nomada). externally with stiff bristles. In 



a, coxa ; b, trochanter, ■' . 



with flocculus ; c, femur; these, as in most of the bees, this 



d, tibia : e, planta : f, spi- i - i ,-, -, t n i 



nuiffi ; g, tarsus, with its limb greatly and gradually expands 

 '^^'^^' towards its articulation with the 



planta, or first joint of the tarsus ; and this surface, 

 which is perfectly smooth, serves to the social bee as 

 a sort of basket to hold and convey the collected 

 materials. The first joint of the tarsus, or planta, of 

 this leg is also used in the domestic economy of the in- 

 sect to assist in the same object. In the domestic bee the 

 under side of the posterior plantse have a very peculiar 

 structure, consisting of a series of ten transverse broad 

 parallel lines of minute dense but short brushes, which 



