The name _epipharynx_ was bestowed upon this organ by Savigny, who thus speaks of that of the bees: “Ce pharynx est, à la vérité, non seulement caché par la lèvre supérieure, mais encore exactement recouvert par un organe particulier que Réaumur a déjà décrit. C’est une sorte d’appendice membraneux qui est reçu entre les deux branches des mâchoires. Cette partie ayant pour base le bord supérieur du pharynx, peut prendre le nom d’_épipharynx_ ou d’_épiglosse_.”
He also describes that of Diptera. What Walter has lately proved to be the epipharynx of Lepidoptera was regarded by Savigny and all subsequent writers as the labrum.
The latest account of the function of this organ is that by Cheshire, who states that the tube made by the maxillæ and labial palpi cannot act as a suction pipe, because it is open above. “This opening is closed by the front extension of the epipharynx, which closes down to the maxillæ, fitting exactly into the space they leave uncovered, and thus the tube is completed from their termination to the œsophagus.”
FIG. 26.—Epipharynx of _Phaneroptera angustifolia_: _cl_, clypeus; _lbr. e_, labrum-epipharynx; _t_ _c_, taste cups, both on the clypeal and on the labral regions. ]
FIG. 27.—Epipharynx of _Hadenœcus subterraneus_, cave cricket. ]
It is singular that this organ is not mentioned in Burmeister’s Manual of entomology, in Lacordaire’s Introduction à l’entomologie, or by Newport in his admirable article _Insecta_ in Todd’s Cyclopedia of anatomy. Neither has Straus-Durckheim referred to or figured it in his great work on the anatomy of _Melolontha vulgaris_.
In their excellent work on the cockroach, Miall and Denny state that “The epipharynx, which is a prominent part in Coleoptera and Diptera, is not recognizable in Orthoptera” (p. 45). We have, however, found it to be always present in this order (Figs. 26, 27).
We are not aware that any modern writers have described or referred to the epipharynx of the mandibulate orders of insects. Although Dr. G. Joseph speaks of finding taste-organs on the palate of almost every order of insects, especially plant-feeding forms, we are unable to find any specific references, his detailed observations being apparently unpublished.