199 



larva of the carpenter-bee. Felt, ('05, PI. 39, and '06, p. 484) has 

 given figures of the nest and has briefly described it. The burrows are 

 made in the seasoned lumber of houses, in telegraph poles, and in simi- 

 lar situations. On the prairie at Charleston, fence posts, telegraph 

 poles, and railway ties constitute the supply of wood available for nest- 

 ing purposes. It thus appears probable that this bee was not particu- 

 larly abundant on the original prairie, far from the forests or cotton- 

 woods, for such nesting habits imply a supply of wood for the bur- 

 rows. The larva is said to feed upon pollen, on which the eggs are 

 placed. 



BOMBID^ 



Bombus pennsylvanicus DeG. Pennsylvania Bumblebee. 



This species was taken on the Loxa prairie from flowers of the 

 purple prairie clover, Petalostemum purpureum (Sta. II), Aug. 13 

 (No. 50) ; on flowers of the mountain mint, Pycnanthemum pilosum 

 or P. flexuosum (Sta. II) Aug. 13 (No. 52) ; on flowers of the rattle- 

 snake-master, Hryngium yuccifolium (Sta. II), Aug. 13 (No. 553) ; 

 in an open glade in the lowland forest (Sta. IV, c) Aug. 22 (No. 

 143) ; on flowers of the thistle Cirsium discolor (near Sta. I, d) Aug. 

 24 (No. 155) ; from the flowers of the broad-leaved rosin-weed, Sil- 

 phium terebinthinaceum (Sta. Ill, &), Aug. 26 (No. 175); and on 

 the prairie west of Loxa on the flowers of the blazing star, Liatris 

 scariosa (Sta. II), Aug. 27 (No. 176). 



Banks (Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc, Vol. 10, p. 212. 1902) has recorded 

 this species as sleeping on flowers. 



The following papers on the habits and life history of the bumble- 

 bees will aid in the study of these neglected insects : 



Coville, Notes on Bumble-Bees. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash., Vol. i, pp. 

 197-202. (1890) — Putnam, Notes on the Habits of some Species of 

 Bumble Bees. Proc. Essex Inst., Vol. 4, pp. 98-104. (1864) — Packard 

 The Humble Bees of New England and their Parasites ; with notices 

 of a new species of Anthophorabia, and a new genus of Proctotrupidse. 

 Proc. Essex Inst, Vol. 4, pp. 107-140. (1865) — Marlatt, An Inge- 

 nious Method of Collecting Bombus and Apathus. Proc. Ent. Soc. 

 Wash., Vol. I, p. 216. (1890) — Howard, The Insect Book, (1904), 

 pp. 12-16; and Sladen, The Humble-Bee (1912). Marlatt describes 

 the use of a jug of water in collecting bees from the nest. (This has 

 long been the common method of destroying these bees used by coun- 

 try boys and farmers of central Illinois.) 



A very important systematic paper, which also contains much on 

 the life history and habits of the American BombidcB has recently 

 been published by Franklin ('13). 



