28 Mr. T. D. A. Cockerell— Descriptions and 



a tuft of black hair below each antenna, and a large tuft 

 above (in miranda and calif or nica the tuft above is always 

 white) ; middle tufts of black on anterior part of mesothorax 

 large and not taking* the form of stripes ; tegulse finely 

 punctured, very dark, only the edges reddish ; points of 

 scutellar lobes not so close together ; tarsi all black ; marginal 

 cell less truncate ; first abdominal segment with the band 

 more widely interrupted ; no light sp )ts on basal declivity. 

 Perhaps only a subspecies of calif or nica. 



Bub. Pasadena, California, April 30, 1909 (F. Grin- 

 nell, Jr.). 



The characters of the claws and mandibles, cited by 

 Pat ton and Fox as distinctive of Bombomeleeta, are also 

 found in true Melee ta. 



Ceratina acantha, Provancher, 1895. 



Mr. H. S. Smith, in Trans. American Ent. Sec. xxxiii. 

 p. 121, has stated that C. acantha, of which he examined 

 the female type, is identical with C. submaritima, Ckll. In 

 this I think he is mistaken, owing to the failure to separate a 

 distinct species common in Los Angeles County, California, 

 to which the name acantha properly applies. The female 

 submaritima) of which I have seen many examples, has no 

 light mark on the clypeus ; whereas Provancher's description 

 calls for such a mark, and it is present in a species agreeing 

 well with the description, taken by Mr. Grinnell in some 

 numbers at Pasadena, April 8, May 21 and 31, and Aug. 26. 

 The females, except for the dark tubercles and strongly dusky 

 wings, are much like C. nanu^a, Ckll. Fortunately there are 

 two males, noteworthy for the following characters : yellow 

 mark on clypeus with the lateral projections much larger 

 than the median, the latter faintly or decidedly bifid; labrum 

 with a large pale yellow mark; front a fine deep blue; 

 thorax strongly bluish; tubercles dark; wings strongly 

 dusky; abdomen blue-green ; apical plate with the terminal 

 process broader than Smith figures for acantha, though not 

 so broad as nanula, and slightly angled or pointed at the 

 apex. 



This is certainly distinct from submaritima, though related. 

 The type of acantha was from Los Angeles. Mr. Grinnell 

 took a small female submaritima in Arroya Seco Canon, San 

 Gabriel Mts., California, October 8. 



A female C. nanula was taken by Mr. Grinnell in Arroyo 

 Seco Ci.fion, June 17. Although this has light tubercles, the 

 wings are darker than usual in nanula, so I hesitated whether 

 to regard it as a variety of C. acantha. I observe, however, 



