492 BuUeiin American Museum of .Wilural History \\ ol. Xl.ll 



l)ec'aust it also is often important, the flowers at which they were cap- 

 tUHMl. Doubtless some of the papers dealing with flowers and bees have 

 been overUK)ked. 



Since the collector has often worked harder than the author, he is 

 entitled to have part of the credit for a new locality recortl. Further- 

 more, the collector's name, through a knowledge of his activities, some- 

 times enables subsequent authors to locate, at least approximately, a 

 place which may not appear on maps. We have, therefore, usually 

 given the collector's name (in parentheses), unless he happened to l)e 

 also the author, but, unfortunately, these did not always get in oui- 

 notes and it did not seem to be worth while rechecking all the references 

 for this point alone. 



The classification of bees is not in a very satisfactory shape and 

 some of the recent changes in names and system do not seem to have 

 helped matters a great deal. More field-work and detailed studies of 

 comparative anatomy are needed before we can hope to accomplish much 

 in the way of improving the taxonomy. We have, therefore, l)een con- 

 servative, even where we feel that changes might be justified, and we have 

 usually "lumped" rather than "split." However, in most cases the 

 bibUography clearly shows where splits have been made. 



APID.S Leach 



As restricted here, this family includes only Apis. 

 Apis Linnaeus, 1758, pp. 343 and 575 

 (Type: mellifera Linnaeus) 



There are no native species in America. The introduced nwUifera 

 now occurs in nearh' all civilized regions. A. mellifera ligu.stica Spinola, 

 1806. p. 35, with largely rufofulvous abdomen, is commonly kept in the 

 United States. A. mellifera lamarckii C'ockerell, 19006, p. 166, (n. n. 

 Unfa.sciata Latreille, 1804, p. 171, not Linnaeus, 1767) was recorded from 

 Canyon City, Colorado, by Uhler, 1877, p. 783. Friese, 1906a, p. 299, 

 recorded A. mellifera syriaca Buttel-R(vpen from San Jos^, Costa Hica. 



Apin hostoniana Sulzer is neither American nor Apis, but is the 

 European Bombus hypnorum (IJnnaeus). See Cockei'ell, 1906, p. 104. ' 



Apis grissipes Turton, Syst. Nat. Ill, p. 559, from "S. American 

 Is." (presumably West Indies) cannot be identified 



MELIPONID.S 



We use this name for the genera which are usually grouped as the 

 Meliponinae of the Apidae. They are certainly as distinct fiom Apis 

 as is Bonihus. 



