1917] Notes on Bombidce 283 



The pupal stage also presents variations in length. The 

 average time spent by the three castes, in the pupal stage, was 

 as follows: drone, nine and a fraction days; worker, nine and 

 one-half days; queen, eleven days. 



The Adult Stage of B. auricomus. 



When the adult is ready to emerge, a sHght movement 

 within the cocoon is noticeable. An adult escapes from its 

 cocoon by cutting around the cap of the cocoon and pushing up 

 the Hd thus formed. Frequently, the emerging adult is assisted 

 in escaping from its cocoon by a worker or the queen. Imme- 

 diately after emerging, the adult makes a search for the nearest 

 supply of honey. A newly emerged bumblebee has a moist, 

 matted, velvety appearance. That portion of the pubescence 

 which is black in the older adults of this species, is in the young 

 adults light gray, occasionally approaching a dark brick-red; 

 those portions which are yellow in the older adult, being very 

 pale, almost white, in the freshly emerged specimens. Adults 

 seldom leave the nest until their pubescence has reached its 

 normal color. 



The first adult bumblebee to emerge is probably always a 

 worker; at least in this nest, such was the case. The second 

 worker emerged on June 26, the first drone on July 22, and the 

 first queen on July 24. The drones of auricomus appear early 

 in the season as compared with those of most other bumblebees. 



Storage of Pollen and Honey. 



For the first few days after emerging, the workers brood 

 over the eggs, attend to the wants of the larvae, clean out empty 

 cocoons, and perform all those miscellaneous duties involved in 

 a social type of existence. After that, besides helping within 

 the nest, the workers usually leave the nest in search of pollen 

 and nectar. On returning from a successful foraging trip, the 

 honey is regurgitated either into the original honey-pot, or 

 into empty cocoons used for the same purpose. Cocoons used 

 for the storage of honey are capped over with wax. The pollen 

 is scraped from the corbicula into empty cocoons used for that 

 purpose. Before a worker scrapes off her load of pollen, she 

 pokes her head into various empty cocoons, until she finds the 

 right one for her purpose. After the pollen-containing cocoon 

 has been found, the worker stands on the edge, facing away 



