Survey of Hatching Spines of Bee Larvae Including Those of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).

This article explores the occurrence of hatching spines among bee taxa and how these structures enable a larva on hatching to extricate itself from the egg chorion. These spines, arranged in a linear sequence along the sides of the first instar just dorsal to the spiracles, have been observed and recorded in certain groups of solitary and cleptoparasitic bee taxa. After eclosion, the first instar remains loosely covered by the egg chorion.