J. H. Lovell.
The Prosopididae of Southern Maine.
Psyche 17(5):177-185, 1910.

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VOL. XVII, PLAT= 10.




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PSYCHE
VOL. XVII. OCTOBER, 1910. No. 5
THE PROSOPIDIDE OF SOUTHERN MAINE.
Waldoboro, Maine.
The various species of Prosopis indigenous to southern Maine have been collected from June 16 to August 25. Of the eight local species enumerated in this paper only P. pygmcea and P. modesta are common, while P. variifrons, verticalis and basalis are very rare. Specimens of these bees have been taken most frequently on the flowers of Aralia hispida and the garden black- berry (Rubus viZZosus), to both of which they are common visitors. They are also often found on the inflorescence of the golden-rods, and less frequently on many other blossoms. The local species may be separated by means of the following key: FEMALES.
.............................
Entirely black, a large species, 9 mm.. basalis. ............................................. Black with yellow marks.. .l.
.......................................... 1. Collar black or unspotted. .2.
........................................ Collar with two yellow spots.
.4.
2. Face-marks subtriangular, yellow spots on tubercles, ................................
and often tegulse, 4-5 mm..
pygmaea.
Face-marks narrow, tubercles and tegulse dark, ................................................ 4-5 mm.. saniculae.
...........................
Face-marks bow-shaped, larger size, 6 mm. .3. 3.
A transverse mark on clypeus, tegulse spotted, marks nearly white..variifrons. A transverse mark on clypeus, tegulse dark, marks pale yellow. .... elliptica. Clypeus wholly black, tegulse usually dark, marks yellow. ......... verticalis. 4.
A yellow spot on base of costal nervure and on each tegula. ......... ziziae. Base of costal nervure, or wing base, without a yellow spot, tegulse ............................................. usually dark. modesta.
MALES.
................................................... Collar wholly black.. .l.
................................... Collar with two yellow stripes or spots.. .5.
177




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180 Psyche [October
verse, more than twice as broad as long, very closely, finely and evenly granulate; mandibles coarsely rugose in the middle on the outer side; clypeus trapezoidal, much longer than broad and about half the width at its posterior margin from what it is at apex; space between the base of the mandibles and the eyes very short; the eyes narrow and elongate, the cheeks behind the eyes not much developed; front between the base of the antennae triangularly raised, the surface flat; antennae short and robust, the basal two or three joints of the flagellum moniliform; the ocelli in a shallow arch on the vertex. Thorax, closely, finely and evenly granulate, broadly oval; pronotum transverse very narrow; mesonoturn with longitudinal parallel short impressed lines; scutellum crescentic; median segment short roundly and obliquely truncate, the triangular area at base coarsely longitudinally rugose; pro-, meso- and metapleurae rather flat. Abdomen: comparatively massive, smooth, the basal segment with very sparse minute punctures, posterior segments with scattered erect hairs. Length of 9 6 mm.; expanse 11 mm. The labels on the specimens bear no precise locality- simply "U. S. America.' " The more important characters in which the female of P. affinis Sm. differs from the female of P. zizice Robt., which was formerly identified as Smith's species, are the much broader head and the absence of a yellow spot on the base of the costal nervure. They also appear to differ in distribution. Smith described three species of Prosopis from North America: P. basalis was from Hudson's Bay and was collected by G. Barnston; P. confluens was from St. John's Bluff, East Florida, and was collected by E. Doubleday; while the label of P. affinis gives only " U. S. America " as the locality, the British Museum Catalogue gives the locality as "Hab. North America, (E. Doubleday, Esq.)," from which it may be inferred with much probability that it was collected in East Florida in the same locality as P. confluens. If this supposi- tion is correct, then we may have been looking for P. affinis in a part of the country in which it does not occur. The characters and distribution of P. zizice, therefore, appear to differentiate it from P. affinis, though undoubtedly the species are closely allied. Prosopis binghami sp. nov.
1853.
Prosopis affinis Sm. cf (not 9 ), Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus. 194. The male assigned to P. affinis evidently does not belong to it, but is a distinct species.
After a careful comparison of the male
and female types Colonel Bingham writes under date of November 5, 1907, "I am disposed to agree with you that 8 and 9 P. affinis Smith belong to distinct forms." I take great pleasure in dedicat-



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19101 hell-Prosopididce of Southern Maine 181 ing this species to Colonel Bingham in acknowledgment of his kindness in redescribing and figuring Smith's types. "3. Differs from the female (P. ufinis which Smith regarded as the female of this bee.-J. H. L.) conspicuously in color of the abdomen, which is exactly the color of a peeled horse-chestnut, in the more slender shape of the body and in the head and thorax being clothed somewhat thickly with short, erect, whitish hairs. The more minute differences in color and sculpture are as follows: Clypeus and the raised triangular area above it, the tibiae of the fore- and the tarsi of all the legs, yellow; the pronotum without the yellow transverse line above. Head slightly wider than the thorax not so long as in the female; antennae proportionately longer, the basal joints of the flagellum not markedly moniliform. Thorax: the mesono- turn without the impressed lines, the triangular space at base of the median segment very closely and coarsely punctured, not longitudinally rugose as in the female. Abdomen: basal segment with more minute and scattered punctures and on its basal half somewhat thickly covered with erect hairs. Length 6 mm.; expanse 10 mm."
For the two excellent figures of Smith's types illustrating this paper I am indebted to Colonel Bingham. Fig. 1. represents the female of P. affinis, and Fig. 2 the form wrongly supposed by Smith to be the male of this species, to which I have given the name P. binghami.
Prosopis ziziae Robt.
1896.
Prosopis affinis Robt. (not Smith), 9 3, Can. Ent. 28:136. 1896. Prosopis xixice Robt. Can. Ent. 28:136. (Proposed as an alternative
name.)
1898. Prosopis xixice Ckll. 8, Ent. 31:187. 1901. Prosopis uffinis Lov. 9 d\ Ent. News, 12:6. 1904. Prosopis zizice Robt. 9 3, Can. Ent. 36974. This species occurs throughout the northeastern states, and I have before me specimens of both sexes taken at Falls Church, Va., by Dr. Nathan Banks. I am not aware that it has ever been reported from Colorado, New Mexico, or the extreme southern states. It is not a common species in this locality. The female
has been collected on the garden blackberry, June 24-25; Soli- dago, August 9-20; male on the garden blackberry, June 24; and Solidago, August 9-21. This species has been repeatedly identified as P. afinis Sm., but as has already been shown the two forms not improbably occupy different areas.



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182 Psyche [October
Prosopis modesta Say
1837. Hylms modestus Say, $ (not c?), Bost. Jour, Nat. His. 1:392. 1859. Hglceus modestus Lee. ed. Say's Writ. 2:771. 1869. Prosopis affinis Cr. 9 8, Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 12:270. 1882. Prosopis affinis Prov. 9 3, Faun. ent. Can. Hym. p. 727. 1901. Prosopk modesta Lov. 9 3, Ent. News, 12:5. Say's description of P. modesta is so brief and indefinite that the correct determination of the species has long been regarded as problematical. Unfortunately the types are no longer in existence. But the name has been so widely used that to reject the species as indeterminable is open to serious objection, since it will long linger on in lists and synonomies and continue to prove a source of error. The elimination of P. affinis Sm., greatly simplifies the problem, as it was with this species that P. modesta was most frequently confused. /
In 1825, Say left Philadelphia, his native city, and joined Wil- Ham Maclure's community at New Harmony, in Indiana, where he remained until his death in 1834. His description of "Hylosus modestus" was published in 1837, so that it is probable that his specimens were collected in Indiana; and that, as he described only one species, they were common forms. Some years ago Mr.
R. J. Weith collected for me at Elkhart, Indiana, a large number of bees, among which were three species of Prosopis: two of these were P. pygmcea, and P. zizice, and the third the most common form, I believe was the P. modesta of Say. Of the four or five other species of Prosopis occurring in this state there is little probability that any one of them can be Say's species, so that there would seem to be no objection to the acceptance of this identification of P. modesta.
Say's description of the female of P. modesta is as follows:-" 3. Black, opake; abdomen polished; hypostoma on each side with a triangular spot; collar with an abbreviated, transverse, yellowish line on each side; pleura with a yellowish spot under the humerus; wings hyaline, with blackish nervures; feet with whitish knees. Length over one fifth of an inch."
It will be noticed that there is no mention of a spot on the edge of the wing base, or on the tegulse, so that the description cannot apply to P. zizioe. To suppose that Say omitted to mention these marks would be a gratuitous assumption, the burden of proving which would rest upon the person suggesting it. I give below



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19101 Lovell-Prosopididce of Southern Maine 183 the more important characters of the two sexes drawn from material collected at Elkhart, Indiana.
Q .-Length 6% mm. Black, with lemon yellow marks on the face, collar, tubercles and legs. Head a little longer than broad, the clypeus minutely roughened with sparse very faint punctures; face above the insertion of the antennae closely and finely punctured; the yellow mark on each side of the face triangular with a small notch opposite the socket of the antennae, the upward extension pointed, but in a large Maine series variable in form. Two spots on the collar; mesothorax
closely and strongly punctured; the tubercles yellow. Wings hyaline tinged
with fuscous, nervures, stigma and tegulse chestnut brown, or the tegulae darker. Legs black, the anterior and intermediate tibiae in front at base, and the entire basal half of posterior tibiae yellow, tarsi chestnut brown. Enclosure on disc of
metathorax distinct, the base coarsely ridged. Abdomen smooth and shining, the
first segment very finely and sparsely punctured, the apical margins of the segments brownish.
$.-Length 5% to 6 mm. Clypeus, supra-clypeus, and sides of face lemon yellow, the upward lateral extensions obtusely pointed. Two spots on the collar,
the tubercles, the anterior tibiae in front, the intermediate and posterior tibise at base, and all the tarsi pale yellow. The antennae black, the flagella light brown beneath. The face finely, the mesothorax strongly punctured; the enclosure of the metathorax coarsely and irregularly pitted. Wings nearly hyaline or tinged
with fuscous, nervures, stigma and tegulse chestnut brown, or the tegulae piceous. First abdominal segment smooth and shining, finely and sparsely punctured. The male described by Say does not belong to this species, and can not be determined with much certainty. P. illinoiensis
Robt. is closely allied to P. modesta, but the male is described as having the first abdominal segment impunctate. P. pennsyi- vanica Ckll. has the marks chrome yellow. P. modesta is a very common species in the eastern states, and in a large series of speci- mens exhibits considerable variation. The interrupted yellow line on the collar is wanting in a few specimens, and rarely there is a yellow dot on the tegulse. The males sometimes have a spot on the labrum and yellow lines on &e mandibles; the punctation of the 1st abdominal segment also exhibits considerable variation. Specimens of the female have been taken on Rubus strigosus, June 16; Aralia hispida, July 16; Solidago, August 19; Eupa- torium perfoliaturn, August 25 ; of the male on Rubus strigosus, June 25; Spiraea salicifolia, July 16; Aralia hispida, July 28; and Solidago, August 19.




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184 Psyche [October
Prosopis variifrons Cr.
1869.
Prosopis variifrons Cr. 9 , Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 12:270. 1869. Prosopis antennata Cr. 8 , Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 12:271. It is probable that P. antennata is the male of P. variifrons. Both forms have been found in New Mexico and Colorado, but there is no record of the capture of the opposite sex of either species. The possibility that they represented the sexes of a singles species was pointed out by Professor Cockerell in the Entomologist, in 1898, and after examining specimens from both of the localities mentioned I am inclined to believe that this is the case. They agree in the following characters: deep black color with nearly white marks, immaculate color, tubercles and tegulse spotted, longitudinal crenulate rug* covering the entire enclosed area upon the metathorax, head and thorax opaque, finely and closely punctured, and color of the wings. The female often has a trans- verse trilobed mark upon the clypeus, but in some instances only the two lateral lobes are present and in others only the central lobe. At Waldoboro I have taken only one male on Cratcegus coccinea, June 14, 1905.
Prosopis elliptica Kirby.
1837. Prosopis elliptica Kirby, $2, Faun. Bor-Am. 4:266. This species is very closely allied to P. variifrons. Through the kindness of Mr. H. L. Viereck I have three specimens, which I refer to P. elliptica 9, collected by Morgan Hebard at Pequa- ming, Mich., July 1, 3, and 12, 1903. They differ from P. varii- frons in Having the marks lemon yellow instead of nearly white, while the tegulse are unspotted. As in P. variifrons the collar is wholly dark, the tubercles spotted, the face-marks bow shaped, and there is a transverse mark on the clypeus sometimes reduced to a central spot. The differences are evidently varietal rather then specific and it is not improbable that P. elliptica replaces P. variifrons northward, as the type locality is British America. Until the male is definitely known its position can hardly be de- termined with certainty. I have taken one female at Waldoboro, July 2, which I refer doubtfully to this species. Prosopis verticalis Cr.
1869.
Prosopis verticalis Cr. ^, Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 12271. 1909.
Prosopis verticalis Lov. 9 , Ent. News, 20 Al3.



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19101 Lovell-Prosopididoe of Southern Maine 185 I have taken one male at Waldoboro on an umbelliferous plant, July 14, which agrees with the description in all respects except that there is a small spot on each tegula. From Falls Church, Va., from Dr. Nathan Banks, I have one male and two females. In all three specimens the tegulse are unspotted. The face-marks of the 9 are bow-shaped and the collar is dark as in P. variifrons, but the mark on the clypeus is absent. The anterior and inter- mediate legs are wholly black, but the posterior tibiae, are ringed with yellow. The rug= of the enclosure upon the metathorax are longitudinal.
Prosopis basalis Sm.
1853. Prosopis basalis Sm. 9 8, Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus. 193. 1869. Prosopis basalw Cr. 9 d1, Pr. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist. 12:269. 1901. Prosopis basalis Lov. Q , Ent. News, 12 :4. Female taken on the wild rose, July 10, 1905; and on Aralia hispida. The type locality is Hudson's Bay. A widely distri- buted species also reported from Colorado and New Mexico. I have a' female from Point Abbaye, Mich., July 10, and a male from Pequaming, Mich., July 1, both collected by Morgan Hebard. The form of the dilated scape in the male is very remarkable, but no explanation of its ecological significance seems ever to have been suggested.




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