76 



THE ANATOMY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



laps the side of the bulb, and which carries distally the palpi of the 

 sting {StnPlp). Each lancet is attached at its base to a triangular 

 plate (Tri) which lies latero-dorsad to the base of the oblong plate 

 and articulates with a knob on the dorsal edge of the latter by its 

 ventral posterior angle. By its dorsal posterior angle the triangular 

 plate is articulated to a much lav gej> quadrate plate {Qd) which 

 overlaps the distal half of the oblong plate. A thick membranous 

 lobe {IXS) , concave below, where it is thickly set with long hairs, 

 overlaps the bulb of the sting and is attached on each side to the 

 edges of the oblong plates. All of these parts are shown flattened out 



in ventral view by 

 ,.Bib figure 37. 



The presence of 

 the two basal arms 

 of the sheath might 

 suggest that this 

 part is to be re- 

 garded as made up 

 of fused lateral 

 halves. In this case 

 we should have six 

 appendicular ele- 

 ments, viz, the two 

 lancets, the two 

 halves of the sheath, 

 and the two pal- 

 puslike organs. If 

 now we turn back to 

 figure 8, showing 

 the component parts 

 of the ovipositor of 

 a longhorned grass- 

 hopper, we can not 

 fail to be struck at 

 once by the great similarity between this organ and the sting of 

 the bee (fig. 36) . The first gonapophyses {!(?) of the ovipositor are 

 identical with the lancets (Let) of the sting, and their sliding connec- 

 tion, by means of longitudinal tracks, with the second gonapophyses 

 {^G) suggests at once that the latter represent the sheath of the 

 sting (ShS). The identity is still more strongly suggested when we 

 observe the small bulb (ShB) formed by the fused bases of these 

 gonapophyses. The third gonapophyses {3 G),' -which inclose between 

 them the other parts of the ovipositor, represent the palpi of the 

 sting (StnPlp). If, finally, we study the development of the parts of 

 the sting we are convinced that this similarity between the sting and 

 an ovipositor means something more than an accidental resemblance 



Fig. 37. — Ventral view of sting of worker and accessory parts, 

 flattened out. , j p^ 



