Biological Papers. 305 



NOTES UPON VARIATION OF MELISSODES LUPINA 



CRESSON. 



By T. D. A. CocKERELL, Las Vegas, N. M. 



^T^HREE male specimens of Me lis s odes colleGted by E. S. Tucker 

 ^ at Colorado Springs, Colo., during August, 190B, were sub- 

 mitted to me for examination. 



The examples are so close to Melissodes lupin a Cr. that I doubt 

 whether they are more than a geographical race. Comparing them 

 with a cotype of M. lupina, I find that the eyes of these specimens 

 are bluer green and diverge less above, and the raesothorax is more 

 shiny. A specimen from Raton, N. M., which I had labeled lu- 

 pina, has the same color of the eyes and shiny mesothorax as in 

 Mr. Tucker's insects, but the eyes diverge as in typical lupina. 

 The color of the eyes is not quite satisfactory when examined only 

 in dry specimens. On the whole, I should call these bees M. lu- 

 pina, but they might be regarded as a distinct subspecies. Were 

 it not for the Raton specimen being in some degree intermediate, 

 I should not feel so undecided. 



Mr. Tucker's insects, compared with cotype of M aurige^iia, 

 have the fourth antennal joint shorter and the pubescence differ- 

 ent in color, Compared with cotype of M. agilis, these specimens 

 have the face narrower ( which may vary ) and the apical plate of 

 abdomen conspicuously broader. 



-20 



