CHAPTER XIII. 



THE THORAX. 



Detailed Description — Legs — Wings — How used in Flight — Hooking 

 together — Employed for Ventilating. 



The thorax of the bee is divided into three sec- 

 tions, or imperfect rings. Of these, that nearest the 

 head is called the J>ro-thora.x, the middle one the 

 meso-thoTdiX, and the hindmost the mefa-thora.x. To 

 the first of these are attached the most forward pair 

 of legs; to the second, another pair of legs and one 

 pair of wings ; to the third, the last pair of legs and 

 the other pair of wings. These organs of locomotion 

 constitute, in fact, all that is worthy of special 

 interest in this segment of the body, and we will, 

 therefore, give a short account of them. 



The legs of all insects consist of five parts, or 

 joints, and in the case of the bee they are not only 

 the means of walking or crawling, but, like some of 

 the head organs of which we have spoken, serve 

 several purposes. The first of the leg-segments is 

 called the coxa, or hip, and is short and round, 

 appearing, indeed, to be little more than the joint 

 by which the limb is articulated to the body. The 

 second is named the trochanter, and is very similar 



