DESCRIPTION OF SPECIHS. 



Polistes canadensis (lyinn.). 



Head and thorax ferruginous brown ; antennae ferruginous at their base, black 

 in middle, orange at end ; a Utile black on sides of thorax and in median dorsal 

 furrow of luetathorax ; metathorax with fine, transverse s'riae. Abdomen brown 

 or blackish ; coxa; and femora black, tarsi, ends of the femora and base of the 

 tibite, ferruirinous. Wings deep brown, with brown reflections. Length i8 mm. 



Var. A. — The femora ferruginous, black underueath ; tibise of the middle legs 

 ferruginous. 



Var. B. — Body and legs entirely ferruginous. 



Var. C. — Posterior border of the first segment of the abdomen ferruginous. 



Hab. — Florida, Mississippi (Ashmead), Washington, D. C (Packard), Texas. 



P. annularis (Linn.). 



Black. — Head ferruginous, a line on the top of the clypeus and vertex black ; 

 antennae ferruginous, black in the middle, orange at the end ; the prothorax bor- 

 dered with red ; tegulas, a point under the wings, two marks on the middle of the 

 mesothorax, two points on the scutellum, and two on the metathorax, reddish ; 

 postscutellum ferruginous yellow. Abdomen black, first segment bordered with 

 yellow. Legs brown, with articulations yellow. Wings black. Length i8 mm. 



Var. A. — Thorax ferruginous, varied with black. 



Var. B. — Whole insect clear ferruginous. 



Var. C. — Insect brown, often confounded by the color with P. canadensis. 



Var, D. — Thorax and two marks on the side of the second segment reddish. 



Hab. — North America. Very common in the cotton belt of the South (Ash- 

 mead), Brazil (Saussure). 



P. crinitus (Felton). 



Female. — Head yellow, front and vertex ferruginous ; clypeus convex, rounded 

 at the base ; first joint of antennas ferruginous, the rest yellow, black above in the 

 middle. Thorax black ; prothorax angular, bordered with yellow ; scutellum and 

 postscutellum yellow, separated by a black line ; tegulse and a line or mark under 

 the wings rejoining the angles of the prothorax yellow ; metathorax smooth, with 

 the median dorsal furrow very pronounced ; articular valves yellow. Abdomen 

 black, all the segments regularly and broadly bordered with yellow, the borders of 

 the second and third very straight and preceded by a red band ; the last two fer- 

 ruginous yellow. Legs black, ends of the femora, tibiae, and tarsi yellow, outer 

 side of the hind legs black. Wings ferruginous, washed with brown. 



Var. A. — Body brown or red, instead of black ; borders of the abdomen somewhat 

 fused with the brown or black ; antennae ferruginous with black in the middle. 



Var. B. — P. crinitus billardieriSaxiss. — Posterior parts of the head yellow ; orbits 

 and ends of the clypeus yellow. Thorax red ; prothorax bordered with yellow in 

 front and behind ; scutellum bordered with yellow ; metathorax black, with two 

 yellow lines ; the first segment of the abdomen yellow on three sides, black in the 

 middle, the rest reddish, narrowly bordered with yellow. Wings brownish. 



Var. C. — Mesothorax black, with two small yellow lines; metathorax with two 

 yellow lines. 



Var. D. — Two yellow lines on posterior plate of metathorax and two on sides. 



Hab. — America. 



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