674 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [BulL 



According to Ashmead this species provisions its nest with 

 Halictus dis.paralis and other small Halicti. The Peckhams give 

 an interesting account of this species, which in brief is as follows : 

 The wasps of one nest live together in harmony after emerging 

 until the females begin to make nests, then they disband, although 

 the males often use the old nest for a shelter at night. The nest 

 is a tunnel in sandy clay, a longitudinal section being roughly L- 

 shaped, the shorter arm oblique, the longer one nearly parallel 

 with the surface. The prey is small Halicti which are stung once 

 (fatally) under the neck, and carried by two pairs of legs. One 

 nest contained twenty-six bees. The wasp never works in cloudy 

 weather. 



Occurs throughout the State. ^ Specimens in the Experiment 

 Station Collection at New Haven were taken from July to 

 October, in the towns of New Haven, North Haven, Prospect, 

 and Westbrook. 



P. (P.) sanbornii Cresson. 



Eyes of the male strongly converging above so they are sepa- 

 rated from the lateral ocelli by about the width of one of the ocelli. 

 Last dorsal plate of the male deeply emarginate. A large yellow 

 spot on the front. The second dorsal segment with two large 

 spots which nearly meet in the middle. Banks, Bull. Amer. Mus. 

 Nat. Hist., 19 1 3, vol. 32, p. 423, has proposed the subgenus 

 Octoletes for this and five other species. 



Putnam, 12 July 1905 (H. L. V.) ; New Haven, 13 July, 1904, 

 30 June, 1905 (W. E. B., B. H. W.) ; Waterbury (W. H. P.). 



P. (P.) dubius Cresson. 



Eyes of the male not strongly converging above, separated 

 from the lateral ocelli by a distance subequal to the length of the 

 postocellar line. Last dorsal segment of the male entire. Second 

 dorsal segment with a sinuate yellow band. 



New Haven, 25 July, 1905 (W. E. B.) ; Hartford, 2 July, 6 

 August, 1893, 10 July, 1898, on Roripa sylvestris (S. N. D.). 



P. (P.) bilunatus Cresson. 



Easily recognized by the markings of the second dorsal seg- 

 ment and by being almost entirely impunctate. Scutellum not im- 

 pressed. Dorsal aspect of propodeum with a shallow, depressed, 

 median area. 



