230 
THE HIVE AND HONET-BEE. 
The tongue of the female is double, 
and the line of separation is shown 
in the figure in which she is repre¬ 
sented as lying on her back. Both 
male and female were accurately copied 
from specimens of the average size and 
form. 
In this sketch, an under-sized male is 
represented.* Ilis color was so dark 
that, but for the tongue, he might easily 
have been mistaken for a female of a 
different and much smaller species.f 
These insects are seldom seen on the wing, unless started 
from their lurking places about the hives, until towards 
dark. On cloudy days, however, the female may be 
noticed endeavoring, before sunset, to gain an entrance 
into the hives. “ If disturbed in the daytime,” says Dr. 
Harris, “they open their wings a little, and spring or 
glide swiftly away, so that it is very difficult to seize or to 
hold them.J In the evening, they take wing, when the 
* The legs aro shown in this figure. In the sitting position, they are usually 
concealed, as in the preceding figures. These drawings appear to better advantago 
in Plate XIII. 
t As all the specimens submitted to Mr. Tidd wore taken from two adjoining 
hives, very late in the Fall, it is possible that observations at some other season, 
and in different localities, may confirm the view of those who believe that there 
are two species. Mr. Tidd, while experimenting to ascertain the sexos, found that 
a female, ns soon as she was pinned fast, thrust out her ovipositor, which works 
with a telescopic motion, and began to feel for some crevice in which to deposit 
her eggs. 8oine cracks being made with a small penknife in the wood to which 
she was fastened, she at once proceeded to fill them with eggs. Iler abdomen 
was ther. cut off, and the egg-laying process continued as before, while the rest of 
the body leisurely walked away I The abdomen was now dissected, so as to show 
the ducts of the ovaries, and, even in this mutilated condition, she thrust out her 
ovipositor, all the while carefully seeking for appropriate crevices in which to 
deposit her eggs! I have repeated, with similar results, these experiments, so sug¬ 
gestive of curious speculations as to insect volition. 
X They aro surprisingly agile, both on foot and on the wing, the motions of a bee 
being very slow, in comparison. “ They are,” says Reaumur, “ the most nlinblo* 
footed creatures that I know.” 
Small Male. 
