198 Psyche [October-December 



The taxonomic position of these Psithyri will be dealt with in 

 another paper. 



In the vicinity of Boston, the queens of Bremufi vagans ap- 

 pear comparatively late. In 1922, the first ones were seen on 

 May 15th, on barberry and apple blossoms. Most nests are 

 probably started between the 15th of May and the 15th of June. 

 The workers begin to appear about the 1st of June, while the 

 young queens and males are produced chiefly during August. 

 The colonies break up in September. 



Franldin (1912/13, I, pp. 348, 354) states that Bremus 

 vagans is exceedingly ferocious, and that the workers of the nest 

 taken by him were the most vicious and ready to sting of any 

 with which he has had experience. This was not true of the 

 6 colonies taken by me, the workers of all of these colonies 

 being rather gentle as compared with those of such species as 

 Bremus fervidus and Bremus impatiens. 



DuMoucHELi Group. 



I. Bremus fervidus Fabricius. 



Both Putnam (1865) and Franklin (1912/13, I, p. 393) 

 have taken a large number of nests belonging to this species. 

 Putnam found them on the surface of the ground, under boards, 

 piles of stones, the flooring of a shed, and in stumps, while the 

 nests taken by Franklin were all surface nests. The largest nest 

 taken by Putnam (July 23, 1863, at Bridport, Vt.) contained 

 about 70 adult bees, 150 cocoons, and 200 larvae. Of the two 

 largest colonies reported by Franklin, one, taken July 22nd, 

 consisted of 1 queen, 2 males, 30 workers, and 125 unbroken 

 cells; the other, taken September 7th, 7 queens, 3 m'ales, and 37 

 workers. 



I took 13 nests of this species in, or near, the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum during the summers 1921 and 1922, one of the nests 

 being situated on the grounds of the Bussey Institution. An- 

 other nest of this species was taken (August 1922) at Washington, 

 Me., by Dr. E. S. Anderson, who was kind enough to turn the 



