1927] Nesting Habits of Some New England Bumble-Bees 127 
a log on the seashore and, in addition to the comb, contained the 
old queen and about a dozen workers. 
Dumoucheli Group. 
I. Bremus americanorum Fabricius. 3 
Bremus americanorum is one of the most common bumble- 
bees in the central and southern plains of the Middle West, and 
hence we probably know more about its nesting habits than 
those of any other of our North American species, chiefly through 
the work of Franklin (1912-13), Howard (1918), Frison (1916, 
1917, 1918, 1921), and Rau (1922, 1924). However, since Bremus 
americanorum is rare, if not completely absent, in a large part of 
New England, it seems desirable to record the taking of a nest 
of this species in the Arnold Arboretum on July 30, 1923. 
The nest was discovered in an open field and was about 6 
inches below the surface of the ground with a tunnel more than a 
foot long. In it were found, the old queen, 37 workers, and a 
considerable quantity of brood. The queen of this colony had 
only one antenna, but this apparently did not interfere greatly 
with her duties, since she was seen to oviposit on several oc- 
casions during the month of August. 
According to Frison (1917, 1918), Ranslow (cf. Howard, 
1918), and Rau (1924), Bremus americanorum is rather vicious, 
a fact which was painfully impressed upon several of my friends 
shortly after the colony was transferred to the grounds of the 
Bussey Institution. In fact it was necessary to remove it to 
another place, since the workers attacked anyone venturing with- 
in twenty-five feet of the nest. 
Literature Cited. 
Bequaert, J. and Plath, 0. E. 1925. Description of a New Psithy- 
rus, with an account of Psithyrus laboriosus, and Notes on 
Bumblebees. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard. Univ., 
Vol. 67, pp. 265-288, 2 figs. 
3 Dr. Joseph Bequaert and the writer have recently studied De Geer’s 
description and figure of Bremus pennsylvanicus, and, like Frison (23), have 
come to the conclusion that it is better to use the name americanorum until 
the type specimen of De Geer is located. 
