Handbook of medical entomology . the order Hymenoptera. In anumber of families of this group the ovipositor is modified to form asting and is connected with poison-secreting glands. We shallconsider the apparatus of the honey-bee and then make briefer refer-ence to that of other forms. Apis mellifica, the honey bee—The sting of the worker honey-bee is situated within a so-called sting chamber at the end of theabdomen. This chamber is produced by the infolding of the greatlyreduced and modified eighth, ninth and tenth abdominal segmentsinto the seventh.* From it the dart-like sting can be quick
Handbook of medical entomology . the order Hymenoptera. In anumber of families of this group the ovipositor is modified to form asting and is connected with poison-secreting glands. We shallconsider the apparatus of the honey-bee and then make briefer refer-ence to that of other forms. Apis mellifica, the honey bee—The sting of the worker honey-bee is situated within a so-called sting chamber at the end of theabdomen. This chamber is produced by the infolding of the greatlyreduced and modified eighth, ninth and tenth abdominal segmentsinto the seventh.* From it the dart-like sting can be quickly ex-serted. The sting (fig. 25) is made up of a central shaft, ventro-laterad ofwhich are the paired lancets, or darts, which are provided with sharp,recurved teeth. Still further laterad lie the paired whitish, finger- *It should be remembered that in all the higher Hyrnenoptera the first ab-dominal segment is fused with the thorax and that what is apparently the sixthsegment is, in reality, the seventh. Stinging Insects 37. Sting of a honey bee. Psn Sc, base of acidpoison gland; B Gl. alkaline poison gland;Stn Pip, sting palpi; Sk B, bulb of sting;Sh A, basal arm; Let, lancets or darts; Sh s,shaft of sting. Modified from Snodgrass. like sting palpi. Comparative mori^hological as well as embryologi-cal studies have clearly established that these three parts corres-pond to the three pairs ofgonopophyses of the o\dpositorof more generalized insects. An examination of the inter-nal structures (fig. 26) revealstwo distinct types of poisonglands, the acid-secreting andthe alkaline-secreting glands,and a prominent poison reser-voir. In addition, there is asmall pair of accessory struct-ures which have been called lubricating glands, on account of thesupposed function of their product. The acid-secreting gland emptiesinto the distal end of the poison reserv^oir which in turn pours thesecretion into the muscular bulb-like enlargement at the base of theshaft. The alkaline secreting
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectinsectp, bookyear1915
