We've all heard of the phrase 'the bees' knees'. If something is 'the bees' knees' then it must be good.
But do bees have knees - really? The answer is actually YES! Here is an explanation and diagram showing the anatomy of a bee's leg, with the knee clearly labelled.
So how do we know that bees have knees?
If we want to know whether or not bees have knees, we need to define exactly what a knee actually is.
Here is a definition from The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary (the third definition being especially pertinent here):
knee (nē)
n.
1. a. The joint between the thigh and the lower leg, formed by the articulation of the femur and the tibia and covered anteriorly by the patella.
b. The region of the leg that encloses and supports this joint.
2. An analogous joint or part of a leg of a quadruped vertebrate.
3. The joint between the femur and the tibia in an insect leg.
From: The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Given that bees have both a femur and a tibia, it can therefore be stated that bees really do have knees.
It's interesting, however, that few diagrams of bee anatomy actually label the knee, but I eventually found one.
It comes from entomologist, Steven Falk's Field Guide to Great Britain And Ireland.
Here is the diagram from the section titled Bee Anatomy:
You can see that the leg of a bee is segmented, and those segments include
The three pairs of legs on a bee have distinct features, that sometimes vary, depending on the species.
For example:
However, it seems the bees' knees themselves perform no special function.
P.S.
If you want to know about the origins of the phrase 'bee's knees' you can read about it here.
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