OF NATIRAL IIISTOnv. 769 



black, fiegmcnts on tlioir latoral ami terminal inarpins yellow, thr 

 latter undulated before; aeeund 8ej,Mnent yellow also atbimo ; be- 

 neatb yellow, with blaek ineisurca : feet yellowish ; post^-rior pair 

 darker behind : venter yellow, with two or three slender obnolct.- 

 dusky bands. 



Length less than hall" an iiicli. 



3. P. VALIDA. — Yellow; middle of the thorax and h-jLHn oflh.- 

 segments of the teri^uni ferruginouH. 



Inhabits Mexico. 



9 Body dull yellow, with forruginou.s sutures : head abovi-, 

 and antenna) at base, ferrui;inous : thorax on the disk ferruiji- 

 nous : wings yellowish ferruginous : tergum with the segment* 

 ferruginous at base : venter greeni.sh-yellow, at ba.se ferruginous : 

 feet ferruginous ; coxae and part of the thigh yellow. 



Length over one inch. 



A large and rather robust species. The male is more exclu- 

 sively ferruginous with the posterior pairs of tarsi whitish; the 

 head in my specimen is destroyed. [890] 



4. P. MELLIFICA. — Wings yellowish ; abdomen fasciato. 

 Inhabits Mexico. 



Body blackish, sericeous, with a slight golden reflection : clj- 

 pcus npt acute, but almost rounded at tip : mandibles at tip pi- 

 ccous ; thorax with a distinct, longitudinal, impressed line bo- 

 fore, extending to the middle : wings yellowish ; dusky at tip : 

 scute! truncate at tip, or rather very obtusely cmarginatc : mcta- 

 thorax almost vertical, with a distinct, prominent, robust angle 

 each side ; abdomen, first segment, small and short ; secofi<l great- 

 ly the largest; all margined behind with orange yellow: venter 

 with all the margins yellow excepting the ba.sal one. 



% Ba.sal joint of the antennaa beneath yellow : nasus very »e- 

 riceous, having a whitish reflection : coxa) and trochantcni yel- 

 lowish-white. 



Length over three-tenths of an inch. 



Not being able to find my notes relative to this .species, I can 

 only state, that near Jalapa, my attention wa.s attracted by » 

 group of Indians, who were eating honey from a paper ne«t. 

 which was then so far dissected in their repaj»t, that I eould not 

 1837.] 49 



