HENRY J. FRANKLIN. 107 



Boinbus (Boiubus) opifex F. Sra. 

 Bombus opifex Smith, Descr. New Spec. Hym., 1879, p. 133, n. 10, S . 

 " " Ant. Handlirsch, Ann. naturh. Hofmus. Wien, III, 



1888, p. 235, S . 

 Vachal, Rev. Ent. France, XXIII, 1904, p. 10, 9 S cf . 

 Friese, Flora og Fauna (Denmark), 1908, p. 92. 



Type. — Col. C. T. Bingham found and identified for me 

 Smith's type specimen of this species in the collection of 

 the British Museum. 



Malar space rather long. Heads of females dark. Dorsum of thorax 

 yellow, with a black interalar band. Pleura yellozv to bases of legs. 

 Three basal dorsal abdomitial segjnents yellow, the remaining dorsal 

 segments ferruginous-red or reddish. Corbicular fringes black. Wings 

 of queens rather dark. 



Queen. Head. Shaped about like that of fervidus queen. For 

 most part bearing only black pile, but with a very slight sprinkling 

 of yellow hairs among the black about the bases of the antenna; ; 

 fringe of labrum dark ferruginous. Malar space somewhat longer than 

 its width at apex, between one-third and one-fourth as long as eye. 

 Clypeus rather strongly and rather evenly punctate, in the very mid- 

 dle smooth and shining. Third antennal segment longer than the 

 fifth, the fifth longer than the fourth. 



Thorax. — Front part of dorsum covered with yellow and hind mar- 

 gin of scutellum also with yellow pile, the rest of the dorsum being 

 clothed with black pile so as to form a very broad black interalar 

 band ; the very center of the disc naked and shining. Mesopleuru 

 covered with yellow pile to bases of legs. 



Abdomen. — Dorsum : first three segments entirely covered with yel- 

 low and the three apical segments with deep ferruginous-red pile. 

 Venter mostly black, but with a little j^ellow pile on the side margins 

 and with the apical margins of the apical segments fringed with yel- 

 lowish-ferruginous hairs. Hypopygium without median carina. 



Wings. — Considerably infuscate. 



Legs. — Coxae, trochanters, femora and tibiae black. Corbicular 

 fringes black. 



Worker.— I have never .seen a worker of this species. Smith's and 

 Handlirsch's descriptions of this caste, however, show that it is much 

 like the queen, except in size. Handlirsch says the wings of the worker 

 are only slightly infuscate. Smith states that the ferruginous pile 

 varies in brightness in diflferent individuals. Vachal states that the 

 queen is like the worker. 



Male. — Unknown to me. Vachal describes this sex as follows: 

 "The male has the hairs of the head black, mixed more or less with 

 whitish ; the third and fourth antennal segments are subequal, being 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC. , XXXIX. 



