1913] Lovell—A Vernal Bee 147 



fourth and one and three-fourths their diameters, respectively. Distal enlarge- 

 ment subeylindric, with a length one-fourth greater than its diameter; terminal 

 segment, distal enlargement somewhat produced, irregularly fusiform. Palpi; first 

 segment short, with a length one-half greater than its diameter, the second nearly 

 twice the length of the first, the third a little longer than the second and the fourth 

 three-fourths longer than the third, somewhat dilated. Mesonotum slaty gray, the 

 grayish submedian lines sparsely haired. Scutellum and postscutellum dark gray. 

 Abdomen thickly haired, dark brown. Wings hyaline, costa light straw. Halteres 

 yellowish basally, fuscous apically. Coxae and femora mostly fuscous yellowish; 

 tibia? and tarsi mostly dark brown; claws moderately stout, strongly curved, the 

 pul villi shorter than the claws. Genitalia; dorsal plate deeply and triangularly 

 divided, the lobes narrowly triangular; ventral plate broad, broadly and roundly 

 emarginate. Type: Cecid. 1422. 



A VERNAL BEE {COLLETES INMQUALIS SAY). 



By John H. Lovell, 

 Waldoboro, Maine. 



In Mr. Frost's interesting note on Tricrania sanguinipennis 

 Say, which was published in Psyche, December, 1912, the name of 

 the bee near whose burrows the beetles were found is given (through 

 an inadvertence on my part) as Colletes compactus Cr., when it 

 should be C. inoequalis Say. The two species, while bearing a 

 general superficial resemblance, may be distinguished by the dif- 

 ference in the sculpturing of the enclosure on the metathorax or 

 prepodeum; and by the fact that the former is an autumnal species 

 and the latter a vernal species, some three months intervening 

 between the disappearance of C. inoequalis and the appearance of 

 C. compactus. 



I have this season received both sexes from Mr. Frost, to whom 

 I am indebted for the following notes. The bees were abundant, 

 and had constructed numerous burrows near the base of a sloping 

 embankment, about three feet high, sparsely covered with grass. 

 There were also nests where the ground was level and free from 

 vegetation. As the burrows appeared to be unlined and the soil 

 was sandy it was impossible to follow the tunnels to a depth of 

 more than three or four inches. This species of Colletes in New 

 England is on the wing for about two months, and is most com- 

 monly taken on the aments of the willows. Mr. Frost captured 



