60 



THE ANATOMY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



SA), since they are associated with the third axillary {J Ax). In this 

 species the subcosta (Sc) is entirely normal, but in the related horntail 

 {Sirex -flavicornis, fig. 26 B) the enlarged basal part of the subcosta is 

 almost separated from the shaft of the vein, while the latter (fig. 25 A, 

 Sc) is short and weak. A study of the venation of this wing leads 

 us to believe that the vein which arises from the radius a short dis- 

 tance from its base is the cubitus {Cu). Therefore the basal part 



Pig. 25. — Wings of Hymenoptera and their basal articular sclerites (lAx—iAx) : A, Sirex 

 flavicomis, front wing ; B, Pepsis sp., front wing ; C, honey bee, front wing ; D, honey 

 bee, hind wing. 



of the media is either gone or is fused with the radius. Since we dis- 

 cover its branches in the distal field of the wing, arising from the 

 trunk of the radius, we conclude that the latter is the case. By this 

 sort of reasoning we may arrive at the Comstock and Needham inter- 

 pretation of the wing illustrated at A, fig. 25. From this it is evident 

 that the branches of both the radius and the media have been bent 

 back toward the posterior margin of the wing. 



