Posterior Legs of Bees. 129 



48), are about eleven rows of stiff hairs. They are of 

 golden color, and very beautiful. These may be called the 

 pollen combs, for it js they that gather, for the most part, 

 the pollen from the pollen gathering hairs of legs and body, 

 and convey it to and pack it in the pollen baskets. As we 

 have seen (Fig. 46) there are less perfect combs — similar 

 in character, position and function— on the middle legs. The 

 contiguous ends of the tibia and first tarsus, are most curi- 

 ously modified, to form the wax jaws. The back part of 

 this joint (Figs. 47, 48) reminds one of a steel trap with 

 teeth, or of the jaws of an animal. The teeth in this case 

 consisting of spinous hairs. The teeth on the tibia are 



Fig. 49. 



Underside of Ahdomen of Worker Bee, 

 Vf Wax Scales, /, ^, j, 4^ St 6 Segments of Abdomen, in order. 



strong and prominent. The function of these wax jaws is 

 doubtless to grasp and remove the wax scales from the 

 wax pockets, and carry them to the jaws of the bees. 

 These wax jaws are not found in queens or drones, nor in 

 other than wax-producing bees. They are well developed 

 in Trigona and Melipona, and less, thougii plainly marked 

 in bombus. Girard gives this explanation in his admirable 

 work Les Abeilles ; and as he is no plagiarist, as he gives 

 fullest credit to others, he may be the discoverer of these wax 

 jaws. If he is not, I know not who is. As before stated there 

 are six segments to the abdomen, in the queen and worker 

 bee (Fig. 49), and seven in the male. Each of these abdom- 

 inal rings consists of a dorsal piece or plate — tergite and pleii- 

 rite united — which bears the spiracle, and which overlaps 

 the ventral plate or sternite. These plates are strengthened 

 with chitine. These rings are connected with a membrane, 



