136 AMERICAN HYMENOPTERA. 



of Colonia Garcia), Sierra Madre of western Chihuahua — 

 about 7,000 feet altitude. 



This species is a close ally of fervidus and may be a sub- 

 species of that species. It may be distinguished from fervi- 

 dus by the dark pleura of its females and by the sixth dorsal 

 abdominal segment of its males either entirely or mostly 

 covered with yellow pile. The yellow pile of sonomce is of a 

 distinctly darker and richer shade than that of fervidus, the 

 yellow of fervidus usually being nearly a pale clay-yellow 

 while that of sononitr is usually light old gold. The outer 

 lobe of the squamae of the genitalia of the typical male of 

 sonomce is much more pointed than is that of the typical fer- 

 vidus male, but with fervidus this seems to be a somewhat 

 variable character. 



Bombus (Boiubus) brasiliensis Lepeletier. 

 Bonihus brasilioisis Lepeletier, Hist. Nat. Insect. Hymen., I, 1836, p. 

 f 470, n. 8, 9cf . 



Brasiliensis Smith, Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus., H, 1854, p. 401, n. 

 62. 

 " venusttis Smith, Journ. of Ent., I, 1861, p. 154, n. 6, 9 . 

 " Brasiliensis Ant. Handlirsch, Ann. Naturh. Hofmus. Wien., 



Ill, 1888, p. 240, 9 cf S . 

 " brasiliensis Dalla Torre, Cat. Hym., X, 1896, p. 512. 

 Strand, Zool. Jahrb., XXIX, 1910, p. 553. 



Types. — Probably lost. 



Pile of niedimn length and rather coarse. Malar space medium. 

 Head of females entirely dark. Thorax yellow above and on pleura, 

 with a broad black interalar band. Abdomen with first and third and 

 basal middle and hind corners of second dorsal segment covered with 

 yellow pile, the remaining portiotis usually being all dark. Legs and 

 wings dark. 



Quee7i. Head. — Rather elongate ; sometimes entirely black, but the 

 face often with a very faint sprinkling of short whitish pile about the 

 bases of the antennae. Malar space very nearly as long as its width at 

 apex, about one-fourth as long as eye. Clypeus moderately punctate. 

 Third antennal segment longer than fifth, the fifth longer than the 

 fourth. 



Thorax .—Dorsum yellow, but with a very broad black band between 

 bases of wings (this band is sometimes not more than half as wide, 

 from front to rear, as it is long, from wing base to wing base, but often 

 it is nearly three-fourths as wide as it is long) . A considerable area 



