THEODORE II. PRISON 311 



this bumblebee from Colorado. Since then both Cockerell and 

 Titus have listed this species from the same state. Franklin 

 omits Cockerell's record of 1893, but Lutz and Cockerell have 

 assigned this record to melanopygua Nylander. Franklin dis- 

 posed of the 1902 record of Titus as questionably referring to 

 7nelanopygus, and says that sylvicotn "does not appear to be 

 present in the United States and is strictly a Boreal form." 

 The same record was also questioned by Cockerell in 1907, when 

 he stated that he believed the apex of sylvicola was not bL'u^k, 

 the alternative through which it was keyed l)y Titus. The apex 

 of sylvicola, however, is black or mainly so, which is an indication 

 that the record of Titus is correct. Titus states that all his 

 specimens of this species were identified for him by Ashmead, 

 and that "It is certainly a distinct high Alpine species." The 

 case in proof of the correctness of the record by Titus is also 

 strengthened when we consider that Ashmead in the same year 

 pul)lished his account of the Hymenoptera of Alaska. Though 

 Ashmead frequently confused certain species of bumblebees, he 

 correctly distinguished some specimens of melonopygus and 

 sylvicola in this Alaskan collection, as Franklin indicates in his 

 species bibliography and a personal study of some of these speci- 

 mens shows. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suppose that 

 he did not incorrectly identify the same species from Colorado 

 specimens. In 1911, Friese gave the varietal name flavicollis to 

 a species he called lapponicus from Pike's Peak, Colorado. 

 Lutz and Cockerell consider flavicollis to be a variety of sylvicola, 

 the nearest relative of lapponicus in North America. Ilecently, 

 I had the opportunity to study two specimens of sylvicola be- 

 longing to the American Museum of Natural History. Both of 

 these specimens were obtained by the Museum from Friese and 

 labeled by him lapponicus var. flavicollis. As these two speci- 

 mens prove to be nearly typical sijlvicola, the use oi flavicollis as a 

 varietal name is questionable. One of the specimens is from 

 Labrador and the other from Pike's Peak, Colorado, the type 

 locality of lapponicus var. flavicollis Friese. In the bumblebee 

 collection of the Bureau of Biological Survey there are many 

 specimens of sylvicola, collected in Colorado at high altitudes by 

 Mr. L. 0. Jackson. I possess three workers and two males of 



TKANS. AM. ENT. SOC, XLVIII. 



