THORAX AND LEGS. 123 



ments of locomotion, from which aspect the several 

 pairs, whether those of queen, worker, or drone, have 

 a common structure, and may be collectively studied; 

 second, as supplying points of attachment and move- 

 ment to curious appliances, severally distinct in 

 character and purpose, and which, of course, require 

 individual treatment. Let us first examine them in 

 their locomotive capacity. The muscles moving them, 

 and which are energized as explained at page 51, 

 are partly within the thorax and partly within the 

 upper joints; while the lower ones carry only tendons, 

 moved as may be well understood by reference to 

 Fig. 10. Of course, in addition, the legs are provided 

 abundantly with both tracheae and blood. Each leg 

 consists of nine joints. Articulated into the thorax 

 we find the coxa, or hip (c, B, Plate V.), nearly 

 conical, and webbed beneath, and bearing the tro- 

 chanter (tr), triangular, hairy, and firmly articulated 

 to the femur, or thigh (/), which is the first elon- 

 gated joint, and, like the previous ones, very densely 

 clothed by long webbed hairs. It is followed by the 

 tibia, or shank (ti), curiously modified in the different 

 pairs and sexes. A foot, or tarsus, of five joints, of 

 which the upper one (the metatarsus, p, Plate V. 

 or Fig. 24) is always much larger than the rest, 

 completes the limb. 



The surprising power that bees possess, of suspend- 

 ing themselves from the bodies of their companions, 

 and of sustaining a pull, without detachment, of many 

 dozens of times their own weight, which is rendered 

 apparent by the cluster formed in swarming, or in 

 the chains of workers festooning themselves from 



