How can an abdomen with the rigid armor of an exoskeleton be flexible enough to “pant”?

The armor of a bee is in overlapping segments. The abdomen of the bee has one row of rigid overlapping plate on its dorsal side (back) and another set on its ventral side (belly). Each dorsal plate segment overlaps its ventral counterpart. Each piece is rigid but joined by membranes allowing what we see as flexible movement, in this case “panting.”.