36 
THORAX, LEGS, AND WINGS. 
edges are fringed with recurved hairs, which retain any- 
thing that may be placed in it (a, d). On the outside 
it is slightly hairy (b, ^). Along the lower extremity it 
has a row of stiff bristles (b, r), called the pecten, or 
comb. 
Just below is the planta, which is broad and slightly 
convex on both sides. It is joined to the tibia at one 
of the angles, and has a little projection (s) called the 
auricle, or earlet. On the outside (a, c) it is slightly 
hairy, but on the inner surface (b, e), that next to the 
body, it has short, stiff, chitinous, shiny, brown teeth, 
arranged transversely in ten rows of combs, projecting 
slightly from the surface. These are used for scraping 
and collecting the pollen which has got amongst the 
body hairs of the bee. 
The articulation of the tibia and planta being at 
the interior angle, and the absence of the spur on the 
tibia (which only the honey bee does not possess), 
give the pecten (r) a freedom of action it would not 
otherwise have, and enable it to be used together with 
the auricle (5) on the planta, which is quite smooth, as 
a true pair of pincers, and as an instrument for laying 
hold of the thin flakes of wax, and for bringing them 
forward to be transferred by the other legs to the jaws 
for manipulation. The posterior legs of the queen 
(c) and drone (d) not being required as pollen- 
collecting instruments, are destitute of baskets, pincers, 
or combs, and are shaped differently. The legs of the 
drone, it will be seen, are the smallest, while those of 
the queen are the largest. As organs of locomotion, 
the structure of the legs has been studied and de- 
