^4 EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN. 



and properly preserved* for me by Mr. M. H. Hunt, a queen breeder of 

 Bedford; Michigan. In this case the evaginated penis seemed to ha^e 

 been torn off in the region between the cross-striped chitinous ridges 

 and the quadrangular plate. The somewhat shriveled, torn end ot tne 

 organ projected backward from the mouth of the queen's vagma, and 

 was pierced from above by the sting. Fig. 19 is a photograph of this 

 queen's abdomen, showing the projecting mate organ and the tip ot the 

 sting sticking through at Stn. Near the tip of the stmg, on the side ot 

 the organ corresponding with the ventral side of the queen, there ap- 

 pears what certainly seems to be the cross-striped chitinous ridges. It 

 will be remembered "that these ridges are ou the same side of the evagi- 

 nated penis as the convex portion of the bulb (see- Fig. 4). Microscopic 

 sections, made longitudinally in a dorso-ventral direction through the 

 entire abdomen of this queen, were attempted in order to show the drone 

 organ in place within the vagina. Unfortunately, the most valuable 

 part of these sections was ruined so that they do not give direct evidence 

 in regard to the orientation of the bulb. The crdss-striped chitinous 

 ridges, however, indicate that the copulatory organ, in this case also, 

 was placed in the vagina exactly as was determined in the four instances 

 where the entire evidence had to be gained from the penis bulb alone, 

 since in those instances the convex side of the evaginated bulb was 

 turned ventrally (and outwardly) relative to the queen's vagina. 



It has already been given as the general belief that the penis tube 

 turns out or everts through the genital slit directly into the vagina of 

 the queen. The pouches of the bursa copulatrix of the queen, the man- 

 ner of extrusion of the drone organ, its size and its irregularity in form, 

 as well as the helplessness of the drone almost immediately after ex- 

 trusion, make it practically certain that this view is the correct one. 

 In accordance with this view it would be necessary for the genital slit 

 of the drone to be placed close to the outer vaginal opening before ex- 

 trusion of the male organ. That being the case, evidence has already 

 been presented by which it is possible to decide definitely the position 

 assumed by the queen and droue relative to each other cluring coition. 



The evidence from the five instances described shows that each drone 

 presented himself in such a manner as enabled him to place the male 

 organ within the vagina with the dorsal side of the former ayainst the 

 dorsal side of the latter— with the cup of the evaginated penis-bulb and 

 the mouth of the ejaculatory duct directed upward and inward toward 

 the duct-opening of the seminal receptacle. In order to ever accomplish 

 such a result there seems to be but one possible position which the droue 

 and queen may assume, relative to each other, at the moment of coition 

 —they must meet and clasp face to face. In that position, the abdomens 

 press together, naturally. The grooved tip of the fused plates bordering 

 the drone's genital slit passes easily through the "sting notch" (sn Fi"- 

 15) to push the sting dorsalward and force the queen's genito-anal 'cover 

 shields apart. Forthwith, we may imagine, the drone's abdomen might con- 

 tract and start evaguiation of the penis tube. This, then, would cause 

 n?n. r^f quadrangular plate" to press venlially until it opened the 

 mouth of th e bursa copulatrix and allowed the pneumophysc^s to dart 



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