50 MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 



The jaws or mandibles (Fig. 6, m, m) arise one on either 

 side just below and at the side of the labrum, or upper lip. 

 These work sidewise instead of up and down as in higher an- 

 imals, are frequently very hard and sharp, and sometimes- 

 armed with one or more teeth. A rudimentary tooth (Fig. 

 21, b) is visible on the jaws of drone and queen bees. 



Beneath the jaws or mandibles, and inserted a little far- 

 ther back, are the second jaws or maxilla3 (Fig. 6, mx), less 

 dense and firm than the mandibles, but far more complex. 

 They arise by a small joint, the cardo, next this is a larger 

 joint, the stipes, from this extends on the inside the broad 

 lacinia (Fig. 20, c) or blade, usually fringed with hairs on its 

 inner edge, towards the mouth ; while on the outside of the 

 stipes are inserted the — from one to several jointed — maxil- 

 lary palpi. In bees these are very small, and consist of two 

 joints, and in some insects are wholly wanting. Sometimes, 

 as in some of the baetles, there is a third member running 

 from the stipes between the palpus and lacinia called the 

 galea. The maxillae also move sidewise, and probably aid in 

 holding and turning the food while it is crushed by the harder 

 jaws, though in some cases they, too, aid in triturating the 

 food. 



These mouth parts are very variable in form in different in- 

 sects. In butterflies and moths, two-wing flies and bugs, they 

 are transformed into a tube, which in the last two groups 

 forms a hard, strong' beak or piercer, well exemplified in the 

 mosquito and bed-bug. In all the other insects we find them 

 much as in the bees, with the separate parts varying greatly 

 in form, to agree with the habits and character of their pos- 

 sessors. No wonder DeGeer and Fabricius detected these 

 varying forms as strongly indicative of the nature of the in- 

 sect, and no wonder, too, that in their use they were so suc- 

 cessful in forming a natural classification. 



Every apiarist will receive great benefit by dissecting these 

 parts and studying their form and relations for himself. By 

 getting his children interested in the same, he will have con- 

 ferred upon them one of the rarest of blessings. 



To dissect these parts, first remove the head and carefully 

 pin it to a cork, passing the pin through, well back between 

 the eyes. Now separate the parts by two needle points, made 



