OR, MANCAI, OF THB APIARY. 149 



that opposes the notch when in use consists of a delicate mem- 

 brane. In other Hymenoptera this spur is greatly varied. 

 Often, as in the ants and mud-wasps, it is also delicately 

 fringed. Sometimes it has a long projecting point, and is 

 thickly set with spinous hairs. 



That this organ is an antenna-cleaner is quickly seen by 

 watching a bee — preferably a bumble-bee — come from a tubu- 



FiG. 67. 



AtUerior Leg of Worker-Bee. — Original. 



Coxa. T Trochanter. 



JP Femur. Ti Tibia. 



12 3 4 5 Tarsal joints in order. CI Claws. 



lar flower, like that of the malva, or by placing a honey-bee, 

 bumble-bee or wasp on the inside of a window-pane and dust- 

 ing its antennse with flour or pulverized chalk. The insect 

 at once draws its antenna, one and then the other, through 

 these admirable dusters, till the organs are entirely free from 

 the dust. The bee in turn cleans its antenna-cleaners by 

 scraping them between the inner brush-like faces of the basal 

 tarsi of its middle legs, which is done each time after they are 

 used to clean an antenna. The paper-making wasps, and I 



