The Life of the Individual 
101 
cells of the comb, the bee larva needs no protective covering 
and, being fed by the worker bees, 1 it does not need organs 
which will enable it to seek or even to detect food or to masti¬ 
cate solid food. It is ideally adapted to the protected condi¬ 
tion in which it is placed in the colony scheme and quickly 
perishes if removed and exposed to adverse conditions. 
Metamorphosis. 
After the excessive growth, the larva is sealed in the cell 
with a capping of wax (Fig. 39) and it then spins a delicate 
silken cocoon with the secretion of the silk glands ( SlkGl ) 
within the cell. Soon after this, all external motion ceases 
and the animal begins to undergo that wonderful series of 
changes known as metamorphosis. During the larval 
growth the mid-intestine and hind-intestine are not con¬ 
nected (Fig. 52) but this connection is made after sealing 
and the feces of the larva are then cast out. 
The organs which served the larva are of course not suit¬ 
able for the adult insect and the changes necessary to obtain 
suitable adult organs take place in the pupal stage. Anglas 
has described many of these changes but the metamorphosis 
of insects is so complex and so much disputed by various 
workers that it is to be hoped that the changes in the bee 
may be again investigated. The simple alimentary canal 
of the larva is discarded and a new one is formed in its place. 
The segmentally arranged muscles of the larva either dis¬ 
appear or are changed into those of the adult. The nervous 
system apparently loses some of the segmental ganglia by 
the fusion of various ganglion pairs. The antennae, eyes, 
legs and wings develop from rudiments which have remained 
undeveloped in the larva. Not only do the internal organs 
change and new structures appear but the animal changes 
1 The larva of the honeybee is fed frequently during the period of rapid 
growth. In bumblebees (Bombus) and stinglcss bees (Melipona and 
Trigona), a cell is filled with a mixture of pollen and nectar, after which 
the queen lays an egg on the mass. The cell is then sealed and the larva 
is not fed further during the developmental stages. 
