40 
BRITISH BEES. 
the under surface of the mouth and lower portion of the 
head, the cavity of which; when folded; it fills, and even 
then the apex of the tongue protrudes in some genera 
beyond the sheathing maxillae. In the Andrenidee it has 
but two articulations, and the maxillae always cover them 
entirely in repose. The first articulation, forming the 
fulcrum of the whole, is always elbowed in the Apidce, 
and consequently not capable, like the rest of the joints, 
of full linear extension. The attached diagram will give 
a clearer conception of the mode of folding : a is the la¬ 
bium, and b the tongue. 
As we have no complete description of the mode by 
which the tongue of the bee is worked, and how it 
gathers up its honey, I thought it desirable to be fuller 
upon the subject than was originally my intention. 
The last portion of the trophi , also double, are the man¬ 
dibles ; they articulate on each side with the cheeks ; they 
act laterally, and are variously formed, according to the 
economy of the in¬ 
sect. In the females 
they are usually 
more or less toothed, 
^--™ es: 1 ’ 0 / le ^' cutter be< l and are especially • 
(Megacinie ); 2, or burrower ( Andrena) ; 3, ot 1 J 
parasite (Nomada). broad, curved, and 
toothed in the artisan bees. In Apis and Bombus they 
are subdentate. In males they are frequently simply 
acute, but in some species, especially in Andrena, they 
have a long spine at the base, which points downwards 
when they are closed. To this sex they appear to be of 
no use beyond aiding them to stay the wayward caprice 
or flight of their mistresses; and, although they have 
un analogical structure in the males of those genera 
wherein they are much dilated and toothed, yet they do 
