178 AMERICAN HYMENOPTERA. 



Bombus antiguensis Shulz, Separat. Abdruck. aus den Sitzungle- 

 richten der Mathem.— phys. Klasse der Kgl. 

 Bayer Akad. der Wissensch., XXXIII, 1903, 

 H. Ill, p. 453. 



The description given by Fabricius is as follows ; 



"Size of A. violaceus. Head black, immaculate. Thorax hairy, 

 black. Abdomen black, anterior part yellow. Wings fuscus. Feet 

 black." 



"' Hab. Antigua." 



This species does not seem to have been a Bombus. It 

 probably belonged to Xylocopa or some other genus. Is the 

 type specimen in existence ? HerrW. A. Shulz (in the refer- 

 ence given in the list of synonymy) in criticising the state- 

 ments made by Friese and others, that certain Hymenopter- 

 ous genera, Botnbus included, are not present on the Greater 

 Antilles islands, cites this species from Antigua, among 

 others, as casting doubt on the accuracy of those statements. 

 Should this extremely uncertain record have much weight in 

 such a discussion ? 



BombiLS alatus F. 

 Apis alata Fabricius, Suppl. Entom. Syst., 1798, p. 274, n. 43 and 44. 

 Bombus elatus Fabricius, Syst. Piez., 1804, p. 352, n. 49. 



" " Illiger, Magaz. f. Insectenk., V, 1806, p. 171, n. 41. 



lUiger, Magaz. f. Insectenk., V, 1806, p. 174, n. 62. 



The description given by Fabricius is as follows : 



" A. hirta flavescens capite anoque nigris. 



Habitat in America boreali. 



Statura praecedentis " (= B. fervidus) " at thorax immaculatus." 



I am of the opinion that fervidus was originally described 

 from a worker and that alatus was the same as the Apathus 

 citrinus (= male of P. laboriosus) of Smith, which might 

 easily be of the same size as a worker of fervidtis. No other 

 species of the North American BombidcB to my mind answers 

 the description so well. The description, however, is very 

 meager, and the species must remain in doubt unless the 

 type of Fabricius is sometime discovered and recognized. 



It is impossible to say what the Apathxis elatus of Bowles 

 (Ann. Rep't Ent, Soc. Ont., 1880, p. 33) was. It may have 

 been P. iyisularis F. Sm. Bowles gave no description of it, 

 only the habitat record " 3 females ; Montreal." 



