INTRODUCTION. 
. 8 
and an anterior portion the ligula , commonly called, 
from its elongated form, “ a tongueit is no true 
tongue, however, being merely an elongation of the 
labium ; a real tongue forming the floor of the mouth, 
occurring but rarely in insect organization, as in the 
cricket. 
Let us now examine the mouth of another insect; 
we will select the common Honey-bee. Here we see 
certain modifications of the organs; for while the 
mouth of the beetle is formed exclusively for biting, 
that of the bee is formed partly for biting and partly 
for suction. In this insect the labium and mandibles 
are nearly the same structurally and functionally as the 
corresponding parts of the beetle, but the maxillae and 
labial palpi deviate considerably from the mandibulate 
type; the former are greatly elongated, and when closed 
form a sort of sheath, which incloses the tongue or 
ligula; the labial palpi too are greatly elongated and 
fold together, forming an inner sheath for the ligula , - 
which is here a long tapering muscular organ with an 
immense number of short ring-shaped divisions covered 
with long hairs. This is the bees honey-consuming 
organ, which may be often seen projecting a great 
distance w'hen the insect is feeding, but which at other 
times is packed up and hidden beneath the maxillae. 
The bee’s proboscis or tongue is solid, not tubular, as 
is sometimes imagined. “ The manner,” says Mr. 
Newport, “ in which the honey is obtained when the 
organ is plunged into it at the bottom of a flower, is by 
‘ lapping,’ or a constant succession of short and quick 
extensions and contractions of the organ, which occasion 
the fluid to accummulate upon it and to ascend along 
