104 AMERICAN HYMENOPTERA. 



apex. Clypeus coarsely punctate, except for a small smooth area on 

 the disc. Third antennal segment slightly shorter than fourth, the 

 fifth nearly as long as the third and fourth taken together. 



Thorax. — Coloration much like that of females, but the pleura with 

 a strong sprinkling of yellow hairs intermixed with the dark. 



Abdomen. — Dorsum : segment one black ; segment two mostly black, 

 but with a strong admixture of yellow hairs on its basal middle ; seg- 

 ment three dark ; segments four to seven inclusive bright yellow (these 

 segments are probably ferruginous in most specimens). 



Genitalia. — I have not been able to examine these organs, but, as 

 Handlirsch's and Radoszkowski's figures agree fairly well, I will here 

 give Handlirsch's description of them: " Of the genitalia, the spatha 

 (uncus) is broad at the base and strongly narrowed toward the end ; 

 the squama is much broader than long, on the inner side drawn out 

 into a moderately long peak. The sagittee are, toward the end, bent 

 slightly downward and outward and, in the same place, almost cut 

 square off." 



Wings. — Somewhat lighter than those of the worker. 



Legs. — Trochanters and femora bearing considerable yellow pile. 

 Hind tibiae strongly convex on their outer sides. Hairs on tibiae and 

 tarsi very short. 



Dimeftsions.— Length : queen, about 25 mm.; worker, 15 mm. to 17 

 mm. ; male, 14 mm. Spread of wings: queen, about 46 mm. 



The species is here redescribed from three queens, nine 

 workers and one male, all in the collection of the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology at Cambridge. 



Variation. — It seems evident, from the published descrip- 

 tions, that the dorsum of the abdomen of the male is quite 

 variable in coloration. In the original description, it is de- 

 scribed as follows : " abdominal segments two and three 

 rufo-cinereous." Handlirsch (vide supra) states that the 

 dorsum of the male abdomen has the first three segments 

 "tawny yellow or only the third and fourth black pilose," 

 the apical segments being ferruginous. The following 

 female variation is before me : 



Worker Color Variant. — Like typical worker, but with only the api- 

 cal portion of the fourth dorsal abdominal segment covered with ferru- 

 ginous pile, its basal portion being entirely black. Friese (vide supra) 

 describes a color variant of the queen as follows : " var. 9 . Thoracic 

 dorsum dark brown instead of yellow haired. — Salta (N. Argentina) 

 — var. fuliginosus.'' 



Habitat. — We have sure records for this species as fol- 



