THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 115 



probably one of the richest in the Dominion, is in the dry belt of 

 Southern Alberta. The third is at low altitudes in the dry interior 

 of British Columbia, especially its southern end. Most of the 

 species peculiar to these regions are restricted to special habitats, 

 of which the most important are sand hills or sandy or gravelly 

 slopes or cliffs facing south on the shores of lakes or riverfe, or in 

 valleys, and some species are found only on certain flowers. The 

 most productive single day's collecting I have obtained in Canada 

 was at Medicine Hat, on August 21, 1916, on thesummit of gravelly 

 bluffs on the north side of the river. The captures would have been 

 in better condition had I taken them two weeks earlier. 



Coming second in productiveness are localities like South- 

 western Quebec, Southern Manitoba, the Arrow Lakes and Victoria, 

 B.C. On the sea cliffs bordering Beacon Hill Park at Victoria I 

 made some good captures on August 15, 1916, although fifty yards 

 from the edge of the cliff nothing of interest could be found. Such 

 places as Banff and Athalmer in the Eastern Rockies must not be 

 omitted. At places like Banff and Kaslo (which is richer) we get a 

 mixture of boreal and southern species, and representatives of the 

 bee-genus Osmia are especially abundant in spring. At Banff and 

 Lillooet eastern forms are also found. 



Passing northwards beyond these special localities, we enter 

 into the boreal zone where the species are much less numerous and 

 are very widely distributed. Many of the species of Vespa, Mega- 

 chile and other genera stretch across the continent from the Atlantic 

 to the Pacific practically unchanged. Many other species, includ- 

 ing the majority of Bomhus, will stretch from the Atlantic to the 

 mountains of British Columbia, there to be replaced by mountain 

 or costal species. 



The coast of Nova Scotia, including the Annapolis Valley, 

 and also the lower mainland of British Columbia, including Van- 

 couver and its environs, have not so far proved particularly rich 

 in species. They are essentially boreal, even more so than the 

 south and east coasts of England. 



While wasps and bees can be caught in plenty on any warm 

 day in spring or summer, there is a pageant of newly appearing 

 species from early spring until well on in the autumn. There are 

 two seasons at which the number of species to be found in good 



