316 NOTES ON BUMBLEBEES 



of Psithyrus kodiakensis. Since that time the true status of this 

 species has remained in doubt and has caused considerable 

 confusion. Franklin in 1912 considered P. kodiakejisis as the 

 male of Breynus kvncaidii, described by Cockerell from the 

 Pribilof Islands, in 1898. In a recent paper on the "Hymenop- 

 terous Insects of the Family Bremidae from the Pribilof Islands, 

 Alaska," 1921, I questioned the correctness of the synonymy as 

 given by Franklin, based on the geographical distribution of 

 the two forms in question, and the lack of additional records for 

 kincaidii in Alaska. In a still later paper in the Entomological 

 News for 1922, 1 reported on a study of the male of kincaidii from 

 a specimen collected on St. Paul Island of the Pribilof Group. 

 As there is every evidence to believe that only one species of 

 bumblebee occurrs on the Pribilof Islands, this specimen was 

 extremely valuable to me from a comparative standpoint. More 

 recently still I have made a detailed study of the paratype male 

 of kodiakensis and drawings of the claspers of the type male, and 

 compared these with a male of kincaidii from the Pribilof 

 Islands. Both the type and paratype males prove to be kirby- 

 ellus (Curtis), a species of common occurrence in Alaskan col- 

 lections, and therefore kincaidii is still to be considered as 

 endemic to the Pribilof Islands. Dr. G. Dallas Hanna even 

 presents evidence to show that the latter species is "confined 

 solely to St. Paul Island of the Pribilof Group." I know of no 

 other species of bumblebee with such a restricted distri])ution. 

 Confusion concerning the true status of what Ashmead named 

 kodiakensis has been due, no doul)t, to the fact these specimens 

 are somewhat aberrant in color from the usual type of kirbyclhis. 

 Structural differences are available, however, in this instance 

 for a correct conception of the species. Lutz and Cockerell in 

 their recent check-list also deem it probable that kodiakensis is 

 synonymous with kirhyellus and not kincaidii. 



C. Changes in Nomenclature and Synonymy based prin- 

 cipally ON A Study of Specimens and Types in the 

 Collections of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia and the Ameri- 

 can Entomological Society 



Bretuus polaris (Curtis) and hyperboreus (Schonherr) 



In the Proceedings of (he Academy of Natural Sciences for 

 1892, Mr. William J. Fox pul)lished a report on some Ilymenop- 



