276 AMERICAN HYMENOPTKRA. 



ing flange, with serrate margin, at the base of the head on the lower 

 side, in place of the tooth-like projection present in affinis and acci- 

 dent alis. 



Wings. — Usually slightly lighter than those of the worker ; distinctly 

 lighter than those of the queen. 



Legs. — Mostly dark ; hind and middle coxse, trochanters and femora 

 often with considerable light pile ; fore and middle tibiae often with 

 considerable ferruginous pile on their hind sides ; hind tibiae with outer 

 faces only very slightly convex and entirely naked, smooth and shin- 

 ing ; corbicular fringes usually more or less strongly ferruginous ; poste- 

 rior metatarsi with no long hind fringes. 



Dimensions . — Length : queen, 15 mm. to 18 mm. ; worker, 10 mm. 

 to 14 mm. ; male. 11 mm. to 15 mm. Spread of wings: queen, 37 

 mm. to 40 mm. ; worker. 26 mm. to 33 mm. ; male, 27 mm. to 33 

 mm. Width of abdomen at second segment: queen, 10 mm. to 10| 

 mm. ; worker, 5 mm. to 8 mm. ; male, 6^ mm. to 8 mm. 



Redescribed from numerous specimens of each caste. 



Habitat. — I have records of this species from all the New 

 England states, except Rhode Island, and from New York 

 (Oneida, Long Island and Keene Valley). I also have the 

 following Canadian records : Newfoundland (several locali- 

 ties), Prince Edward Island (Hampton), Quebec (Montreal), 

 Hudson Bay Country, Ontario (Ottawa, Lake of Bays, Ka- 

 benakagami River and Nepigon), Manitoba (Arveme and 

 Winnipeg), the new province of Saskatchewan (Oxbow and 

 Regina) and Alberta (St. Albert, Calgary and Edmonton). 

 It is almost sure to be present in New Brunswick, Nova 

 Scotia and Rhode Island. My most southern records are 

 Branford, Connecticut, and Long Island, New York. The 

 Rocky Mountains probably mark its western limits in Canada. 

 The type specimen was taken in Latitude 65°. What are its 

 most northern limits ? It seems to be a fairly common spe- 

 cies through at least a good portion of its range of habitat. 

 It is present in the northern parts of Wisconsin and Minne- 

 sota (Lake Itasca) and probably also of Michigan and North 

 Dakota. It is mainly a Boreal form, but it runs over some- 

 what into the Transition Zone. 



This species has its closest ally in the subspecies nigro- 

 scutatjis of the species occidentalis. It differs from that form 

 in always having the second dorsal abdominal segment 

 entirely covered with yellow pile. 



