Honey Bee Legs

How many legs does a honey bee have?

How many legs are attached to the abdomen?

How many honey bee legs are attached to the thorax?

What is an arolium?

The thorax comprises three segments, and each segment supports one pair of legs.

Each bee leg has five major segments, the coxa, trocanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus. If a honey bee worker's legs were removed from her body, is it possible to tell them apart?

The last major leg segment, the tarsus (also known as the foot), is divided into a series of subsegments. The largest of these, and the one closest to the tibia, is the basitarsus. The following three small subsegments are called tarsomeres. The very last, most distal, subsegment is sometimes called the _______ (or toe).

Honey bees have both tarsal claws and an arolium attached to the end of each leg.

To avoid tripping all over themselves, bees move their legs in a coordinated fashion when they walk. In what way are they coordinated?

Where are the corbiculae found?

Describe the structure of the corbiculae (pollen baskets).

Where are the antenna cleaners?

Describe how the pollen moves from the pollen press into the pollen baskets.

The pollen rake is used to carefully remove pollen from the anthers of flowers.

How does the honey bee worker use the tibial spine on the midleg?

Pollen combs are comprised of densely-packed rows of hairs found on the inside of the ______ of the hind legs. Each pollen comb accumulates pollen from the opposite midleg.