Sept., '04] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 251 



A New Colletes. 



BY MYRON H. SWENK, Lincoln , Neb. 



Colletes robustus n. sp. 



$. Length 12-14 mm. General form stout. Dull black, almost hare. 

 Head slightly narrower than thorax, extremities of orbits rounded. Cly- 

 peus somewhat shiny, almost bare, flat, coarsely striately punctured, 

 transversely depressed before apex, a small median impunctate spot at 

 extreme base and one in middle of supraclypeal area. Face on either 

 side of clypeus finely and closely punctured, but changing abruptly to 

 coarse close punctures above insertion of antennae, its pubescence short 

 and white, becoming dense in a ruff about base of antennae. Antennae 

 unusually short and heavy, wholly dark, with under surface of flagellum 

 lighter than upper, and its first joint longer than second. Vertex slightly 

 depressed along sides, bare and shiny, with large, coarse, separated punc- 

 tures and small ones between. Occiput with short, rather dense white 

 pubescence and no obvious dark hairs. Cheeks finely punctured and 

 sparsely provided with pale pubescence. Malar space scarcely defined, 

 extremely short. Labrum with five deep depressions separated by four 

 prominent sharp ridges, the median depression largest. Mandibles heavy, 

 a small notch well removed from the rounded lip, medially and apically 

 rufescent or wholly black. 



Prothorax with short but conspicuous, stout, sharp spines. Mesothorax 

 punctured much like clypeus, the coarse crowded punctures running into 

 irregular striae at places, only a very small subimpunctate spot on disk, 

 the anterior half with a deep median depression. Disk practically devoid 

 .of pubescence, the few scattered hairs on it very short, pale and black 

 intermixed ; a dense tuft of short pure white hair on tubercles, and longer 

 and sparser gray hairs surrounding tegulae and passing as a narrow fringe 

 around posterior border of scutellum. Scutellum shining, its coarse 

 round punctures well separated anteriorly but crowded posteriorly, post- 

 scutellum roughened by fine, close punctures and fringed posteriorly with 

 long pale hairs. Metathorax without a superior face and no series of 

 pits, the enclosure funnel-shaped, its bowl a little shiny, with the whole 

 surface coarsely and irregularly plicate, the neck short and constricted at 

 the base, which is not wider than the tip. Lateral faces of posterior 

 truncation coarsely and weakly punctured on a dull very minutely punc- 

 tured surface, exteriorly with a fringe of pale hairs. Mesopleura \vilh 

 coarse, crowded punctures forming striae, on a small space immediately 

 under tegulae with finer separated punctures, very thinly clothed with 

 p;de hairs. Tegulae piceous edged with testaceous, punctured. Wings 

 slightly darkened hyaline, iridescent, very pubescent, nervures very dark 

 brown to blackish, stigma brown. 



Legs large, stout, black, more or less shining, especially on femora, 

 the apical tarsal joints sometimes inclining to dull femigir.ous, clothed 



