26 
BRITISH BEES. 
here are those portions of the external structure which 
have any special bearing upon the economy and habits, 
or upon the generic and specific determination of the 
insects, and to which therefore I shall specially limit 
myself. 
The head is the most important segment of the in¬ 
sect’s body, if we may elevate to such distinction any 
portion, when all conduce to the 
same end, and either would be im¬ 
perfect without the other, yet we 
may perhaps thus distinguish it from 
the rest as it exclusively contains 
•> 
that higher class of organs, those of 
Fig. 5.—Front of the sense, which are most essential to 
head of the bee. a , ver- , 
tex; b, face; c, ocelli or the functions of the creature. The 
stemmata; d, compound ■, , . . ,, . ■, , 
eyes; e, clypeus; /, man- head consists of the vertex, or crown ; 
guarappai-atusXlding 1 for ^he 9 en(R ) or cheeks; the face ; the 
repose. clypeus, or nose; the compound eyes ; 
the stemmata , or simple eyes; the antennae , or feelers, 
and the troplii , or organs of the mouth collectively. 
The thorax , the second segment, carries all the organs 
of locomotion. It consists of the prothorax or collar, 
which carries beneath the anterior pair of legs; the meso- 
thorax, or central division, with which articulate late¬ 
rally above the four wings, the anterior of which have 
their base protected by the squamulce, or epaulettes, or 
wing scales, and beneath it carries the intermediate pair 
of legs; the metathorax, or hinder portion, which has in 
the centre above, behind the scutellum , the post-scutel- 
lum , and at the extremity of this division just above the 
articulation of the posterior legs is attached the last seg¬ 
ment of the insect,—the Abdomen. 
The vertex, or crown of the head, is that portion 
