1908] LOVELL-HALICTIDAE OF SOUTHERX MAINE 35 



(Evylaeus). 

 Halictu.s craterus n. sp. 



1905 Halictus similis Lovell, 9 d", Can. Ent. 37:299. 



9 . — Length 9-10 mm.; a broad, robust bee, entirely black, front and meso- 

 thorax subopaque, abdomen shining. Face much longer than broad, the sides nearly 

 parallel; clothed with thin, pale yellowish pubescence; with close, shallow, often 

 indistinct, punctures; clypeus produced, coarsely and sparsely punctured, with an 

 apical fringe of reddish-yellow hair; ihe labrum is broad, with a central tubercle or 

 prominence, the apex produced into a stout tooth fringed with stiff, fulvous hair; 

 antennae black, the flagellum faintly brownish. Mesothorax closely but very dis- 

 tinctly punctured, the punctures large; the dorsum and pleurae clothed with pale 

 ochraceous hair; metathorax sharpiy truncate, the area not well-defined, shining, 

 with coarse longitudinal ridges. Wings hyaline, reddened, nervures and stigma 

 dark ferruginous, 3rd submarginal cell larger than the 2nd, but about equal on the 

 marginal nervure; tegulae rufo-piceous or nearly black. Legs black, joints 1-4 of 

 the posterior legs with bright orange fulvous hair on the inner side, the hind spur pale 

 yellow, serrate, with about eight short teeth. Abdomen shining, strongly convex; 

 segment 1 is distinctly but sparsely punctured, segments 2-3 are finely punctured 

 all over; segments 2-3 with white basal fasciae often interrupted on 2, segment 3 

 is also rarely fasciate; apical fimbria reddish-brown. 



C?. — Length 9 mm., narrower and more slender than the female. Face densely 

 clothed with nearly white or pale buff -colored hair; clypeus with a transverse pale 

 yellow mark; antennae long, joint 4 longer than 2 plus 3, black, the flagellum brown- 

 ish. Pubescence of the mesothorax thinner and lighter colored than in the female, 

 the punctuation similar. Abdominal segments 1-2, sometimes 3, with white basal 

 fasciae interrupted in the middle; otherwise closely resembles the female. 



Female specimens taken on Salix Bebbiana, May 13; Iris versicolor, June 24 

 to July 5; Eupatorium perfoliatum, Aug. 24; Leontodon autumnalis, Sept. 6; males 

 on Aralia hispida, July 30; Carduus arvensis, Aug. 7; and Leontodon autumnalis, 

 Sept. 6. A very common species easily separated from all other Maine bees belong- 

 ing to this genus. It is closely related to H. discus Sm., but discus has the meso- 

 thorax smooth and shining, with the punctures widely scattered; the pubescence of 

 the legs is silvery tinged with yellovr; antl abdominal segments 2-4 are fasciate. H. 

 similis Sm. was described from Hudson's Bay. It differs from H. craterus in the 

 finely punctuated mesothorax, the sparsely pubescent pleurae, the pale testaceous 



