52 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. . [Feb., '07 



verse and continuous. Pygidium brown. Pubescence of head and 

 thorax short, erect and white, densest on the cheeks and pleura, grayish 

 white on the legs, the hair on last three abdominal segments and the 

 ventral fringe ochraceous gray. 



c?. Length 8-9 mm. Black, the head and thorax strongly reflecting 

 blue, only the mandibles, a narrow line on front of scape, knees and 

 a variably-sized stripe on anterior tibiae yellow ; tarsi brownish ; 

 pygidium abruptly yellow ; apical margins of the segments depressed, 

 impunctate, steely. 



Types : Pair taken in copula, Niobrara, Nebraska, August 

 13, 1902, on Helianthus annuus (M. H. Swenk). There are also 

 49 female and 71 male paratypes from Long Pine, Cams, 

 Neligh, Springview, Glen, Crawford, Warboiinet Canon, Im- 

 perial and Haigler, Nebraska, thus representing the entire 

 northwestern half of the State. While most frequent on 

 Helianthus, this species visits also, but not frequently, the 

 flowers of Rudbcckia, Petalostemon violaceus, Campanula 

 pctiolata, Mcdicago sativa, Carduus altissimns and Verbena sp. 

 It flies from June 23 to August 25. 



Perdita lacteipennis is quite close to P. albipennis, but differs 

 at once in its larger size and in a reduction of the yellow mark- 

 ings. The male of albipennis may easily be told by its yellow 

 markings on clypeus and sides of face (completely lacking in 

 lacteipennis}, much broader stripe on front of scape and on 

 anterior tibiae, larger knee spots, more yellowish flagellum and 

 yellow tarsi ; the female of albipennis has the apical margin 

 of the clypeus yellow, in addition to- the median cuneate mark, 

 more yellow on scape and legs, and much narrower abdominal 

 bands. One would be inclined to consider it merely a variety 

 of albipennis were it not for the fact that in western Nebraska 

 both species occur together and are yet perfectly distinguish- 

 able, lacteipennis running out eastwardly so that albipennis 

 occurs alone in eastern Nebraska. 



3. Perdita latidncta n. sp. 



$. Length about 5 mm. Head and mesothorax brassy-green, the 

 prothorax and metathorax blue. Clypeus black, with a large subpyri- 

 form yellow spot occupying most of the median area, the sides of face 

 between the clypeus and eye with a small quadrate yellow spot, which 

 sometimes extends up a short distance along the orbit, the mandibles 

 and a spot on tubercles also yellow. Scape in front and ilagellum 



