T. D. A. Cockerell.
Bees Collected by Nathan Banks in the Vicinity of the Panama Canal.
Psyche 35(3):173-181, 1928.

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19281 Bees Collected by Nathan Banks 173 BEES COLLECTED BY NATHAN BANKS IN THE
VICINITY OF THE PANAMA CANAL.
About one-half of the species collected are as follows: Melipona orbignyi phenax (Cockerell)
Bella Vista, Aug. 7. I now conclude that M. wbignyi jen- ningsi Ckll. was described from the male of M. phenax, the latter (from Ecuador) having priority of place. Melipona fulvipes triplaridis Cockerel1
Barro Colorado, Aug. 2. Larger and more robust than the type of triplaridis, but otherwise the same. Euglossa piliventris imperialis Cockere11 Barro Colorado, Aug. 15. Male
Euglossa cordata (Linnaeus)
Barro Colorado, June 20, July 25, Aug. 2 Centris poecila Lepelet,ier
Red Tank, June 30. Male. Gribodo (1893) described the- male of C. pcecila from Panama.
Centris tarsata Smith
Barro Colorado, July 24. Female. Agrees with one from Guatemala. Friese considers it a form of C. lanipes (Fabricius). Centris inermis Friese
Red Tank, June 30. Female.
Exomalopsis zexmenice Cockerel1
Mt. Hope, July 8.
Female E. paitensis Ckll., 1926, from
Peru, is perhaps too closely allied to E. zexmenice and is probably to be considered only a southern race. Northward (Pt. Isabel,



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174 Psyche [September
Texas) E. zexmanice. has dark hair behind ocelli, but the Panama form has it very pale reddish. In E. paitensis this hair is creamy white.
Melissodes tepaneca panamensis subsp. n. Female (type). Size and appearance of M. tepaneca Cresson, but thorax above with very bright fox-red hair, the disc of mesothorax with a large patch of short black hair, not reaching sides. Head very broad; eyes grey or green (doubtless green in life); clypeus densely rugosopunctate; face and cheeks with dull white hair; some long black hairs behind ocelli, and back of this, the occiput has bright fulvous hair; flagellum bright ferruginous beneath except at base; tegulse clear ferruginous; wings dusky; lower part of pleura in front with sooty hair; legs with fulvous hair, black on anterior basitarsi in front; scopa of hind legs 'large; bright ferruginous hair on inner side of hind tarsi; ab- domen with dense fulvous bands, second segment with bands at base and middle; fourth with black hair at extreme base, and a little in middle apically; fifth with all hair black except at extreme sides, sixth with black. There is black hair on outer side of middle tibiae apically, and around hind knee-plate. Male. The single male with the same data, might well pass as M. tepaneca. Clypeus lemon yellow; labrum and base of mandibles cream- color; antennae very long, flagellum bright ferruginous beneath; hair of thorax above fulvous, without any black patch. Cristobal, Aug. 10 3 ? .
1 3. I thought at first to refer this
to M. tepaneca aschenborni~na Ckll., based on the male from 'Guatemala, but the fifth segment has black hair in middle, and the hair between the basal and median bands on second segment is dusky yellowish, not black. It also differs from M. costaricensis (Tetralonia costaricensis Friese). I am not sure that this may not be Melissodes cajennensis (Lepeletier) based on the male Jrom Cayenne, but in the absence of females from that region it is impossible to reach any conclusion.
Hypanthidium tabogwwn Cockerel1
Ancon, Aug. 6, male. Bella Vist,a, Aug. 7. Female. Mr. H. F. Schwarz (American Museum Novitates, 253) has recently



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19281 Bees Collected by Nathan Banks 175 treated this as a variety or race of H. mexica?mnz (Cresson). This cannot be correct as I possess a male paratype of H. mexi- canum and find it tlo differ radically in the sculptlure of the first two abdominal segments, which have stronger, sparse or well separated punctures.
Dianthidium banksi sp. n.
Female. Length 5 mm. (abdomen curved downward); narrow, head and thorax very coarsely punctured; markings of head, thorax and abdomen red, probably yellow in life; red marks of head confined to band along inner orbits, from level of middle of clypeus to more than half way up front, and an entire occipital band not going much below tops of eyes; scape red in front third antenna1 joint yellow on outer side, flagellum red beneath; tubercles with a small spot; anterior margin of meso- thorax with a very broadly interrupted red band; scutellum and axillae red ; tegulse black; wings very dark; anterior legs yellow- ish ferruginous in front; middle knees and tibiae in middle red- dish; hind legs black; abdomen finely punctured; first segment with a large red spot on each side, second with a short transverse stripe on each side, third to fifth with entire bands; ventral scopa white. The sides of metathorax are smooth and polished. Barro Colorado, June 20. Resembles D. quadrimaculatum Ckll. (Bolivia) in most respects, differing conspicuously by the black tegulse and mainly black scape. Resembles D. gualanense Ckll. (Guatemala) by the black tegulse, but differs by the light scutellum and axillae. The three species are very closely allied. Ceratina reducta sp. n.
Female. Length about 5 mm.; head and thorax highly pol- ished, smooth, dark olive green; abdomen very faintly greenish, hind margins of segments 3 to 5 obscurely reddish; legs ferru- ginous, femora dusky, with a more or less evident pale stripe in front. Head round seen from in front; mandibles red in middle ; labrum pale red, binodose; clypeus with a very broad ivory- colored band, broadly rounded above, somewhat constricted in



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176 Psyche !September
middle; short pale stripes at sides of front betewen antennae and eyes; large pale yellow bands on cheeks, broad above, attenuate below; cheeks almost wholly impunctate; scape light in front, flagellum obscurely reddish beneath; disc of mesothorax im- punctate; tubercles pale yellow; tegulae light ferruginous; wings dusky hyaline, nervures and stigma dark; abdomen beneath with thin pure white hair.
Taboga Island, June 29. Related to such species as C. quinquemaculata Ckll. (Guatemala), but on account of the small size, color, and reduced markings, at first suggesting, d- liance with the smaller members of the C. dupla group. Ceratina viridula Smith
Taboga Island, June 29.
Colletes rohweri Cockerell.
Las Sabanas, July 7, female. C. rohweri was described fromo a male collected at Zaruma, Ecuador. The present female agrees well except in the usual sexual characters, and the lack of distinct bands on the abdomen, but these appear to have been denuded, the specimen being old, with ragged wings. The abdomen is of the fusiform type; the very broad hind tibiae are covered with black hair on outer side; the thorax above shows much black hair, but there is a dense band of white hair between mesothorax and scutellum; tegulae very dark brown; wings strongly stained with brown; flagellum obscure reddish beneath except at base; malar space very short; mandibles red apically. In Swenk's table (1908) it stands near C. intermixtus Swenk, but is quite distinct. It is somewhat allied to (7. motaguensis Ckll. (Guate- mala).
Halicks townsendi Cockerel1
Gamboa, July 9, two males; Ancon, Aug. 4, two females; Cristobal Aug. 10, two females; Red Tank June 30, July 1, two females.
The females vary greatly in the size of the head. This is hardly more than a race of the North American H. armaticeps Cresson.




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Bees Collected by Nathan Banks
Subgenus CHLORALICTUS Robertson
The small bees referable to this group are not readily dif- lerentiated without the aid of the microscope. In the following key the characters are mostly microscopic. Tegulae closely punctured ; front densely punctured ; malar region with two little tubercles; flagellum light brown beneath except at base; antennal joints 3 to 5 all short, transverse, much short- er than those following; mesothorax coarsely microscopically tessellate, with rather close fine punctures; area of metathorax with strong but irregular rug=, going from base to apex; scu- tellum and posterior face of metathorax roughened; hind spur with four long oblique teeth; first abdominal segment smooth and polished, with microscopic transverse lineolation, the base hairy; basal corners of second and third segments, and fourth very broadly right across,
with minute appressed plunlose
hairs. ............................. Halictus goethalsi sp. n. ..... Tegulse not punctured; hind spur with few strong spines. .1
1. Area of metathorax large, not sharply defined, microscopically reticulate, with short plicae at base only; front very densely punctured; antennal joints 3 to 5 short, the following in- creasingly longer, but 6 not greatly longer than 5; mesothorax microscopically tessellate and rather closely punctured; scu- tellum rather sparsely punctured; hind spur with three large spines or teeth. ................... Halictus lesseppsi sp. n. Area of metathorax with strong rug% from base to apex; scu- tellum in middle with a broad band of small crowded punctures, ........ and on each side of this a sparsely punctured area. .2
2.
Larger and more robust; mesothorax dullish and coarsely punctured, the surface microscopically tessellate, the punctures closer posteriorly, on posterior middle of disc they are separated on the average by less than a puncture width; antennal joints 3 to 5 not very short, 6 not much longer than 5; hind margin ....... of third abdominal segment very narrowly testaceous. Halictus gorgasi sp. n.
Smaller, with mesothorax shining, not coarsely punctured, the punctures sparse on disc; front densely punctured; antennal joints 3 to 5 successively longer; base of second and third



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178 Psyche [September
abdominal segments with thin bands of appressed plun~ose
hairs, broad at sides, on 2 rapidly narrowing, reduced to a few isolated hairs in middle, on 3 narrow (about 3 hairs deep) in middle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Halictus balboa sp. n. To niy surprise all these small Chloralictus prove new. Haclitus goethalsi sp. n.
Female.
Length 4 mm. or rather more, anterior wing 3 mm.; head and thorax dark green, dull, the clypeus shining; head longer t,han broad, face rather narrow, clypeus produced; man- dibles reddened apically; flagellum obscure reddish brown be- neath except basally; mesothorax finely punctured, median groove very dist,inct ; area of methathorax entirely dull, plicatu- late; post,erior face small; teguls~ very dark; wings greyish, stigma dilute brown; legs dark; abdomen black, shining, white- pruinose at basal corners of first three segments and all over fourth ; hind margins of segments obscurely brown. Bella Vista, Aug. 7, 1924.
Compared with H. pseudotequla-
ris Ckll., it is larger, and the head is not so round seen from in front. In the Sandhouse table it runs nearest to H. ellisice Sandh. from Massachusetts, but is of course different. Miss Sandhouse in her description says the wings of H. ellisice are clear hyaline, but in the table places it with those having more or less dusky wings.
Haclitus lesseppsi sp. n.
Female. Length about 5.5 nim., anterior wing about 3.5 miii. ; robust; head and thorax brassy green, moderately shining; abdomen black; mandibles red, bright in middle, extreme base black, tip dark; flagellum ferruginous beneath except at base; tegulse polished, dark reddish-brown; wings strongly dusky, stigma very dark brown; legs black, with the tarsi bright fer- ruginous; head broader than long, clypeus little produced; cly- peus well punctured, and with coppery tints; supraclypeal area polished, brassy; a shining space above and laterad of each an- tenna but greater part of front dull, dark green; cheeks broadly rounded, shining with thin white hair; mesothorax moderately



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19281 Bees Collected by Nathan Banks 1791 shining with coppery tints in middle, punctures distinct under lens, parapsidal grooves distinct; scutellum and area of meta- thorax shining, postscutellum dull and dark; hair of thorax above dull white, inconspicuous; abdomen shining, very thinly hairy, but quite without hair bands or patches. Bella Vista, Aug. 7, 1924. Several species are more or less similar to this ,as follows:
H. exiguiformis Ellis agrees in area of metathorax with basal plicae, and is really a very similar species, but it does not have the clear red tarsi. H. tropicior Ellis has the red hind tarsi, but disc of mesothorax is posteriorly sparsely p~nct~ured, and not tesselate, but sn~ooth and polished. H. lesseppsi has it tes- selate all over. H. chrysonotus Ellis also has red tarsi, but the area of metathorax is unlike that of any of the Panama species; the mesothorax is much more shiny than in H. lesseppsi. The tegulae are quite a different color from those of H. balboce. H.
tenax Sandh. (Colorado) has a similar metathoracic area, but is otherwise different. H. umbripennis Ellis (Guatemala) has a red stigma and is quit,e distinct. 11. deceptor Ellis (Guatemala) has plicae of metathoracic area weak and only going one third of way toward margin, but is otherwise quite different. H. indis- tinctus Crawf falls near here by area of metathorax, but legs are all dark. H. exiguus Smith differs by the much longer head, smoother and more polished mesothorax, and pale stigma. Halictus gorgasi sp. n.
Female. Length about 6 mm.; wings short, anterior wing about 3.6 mm.; head and thorax dull brassy green, with very little hair; head broad, clypeus not much produced; apical half of mandibles dark red; clypeus short; clypeus and sides of face with very strong punctures; front dull, very densely punctured, the punctures tending to run into striae; apical part of flagellum dull red beneath; mesothorax dull, very strongly and coarsely punctured, with slight coppery tints; scutellum more finely punc- tured, and shining on each side of middle; area of metathorax coarsely wrinkled; posterior face of metathorax dullish, coarsely sculptured, more or less striate, its lateral margins sharply de-



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180 Psyche [September
fined; tegulse very dark brown; wings stained with reddish; and nervures pale dull reddish-brown, the stigma decidedly of the pale type; mesopleura dull and very rough; legs black, with white hair; abdomen black, with very little hair (no bands or spots), extreme apex dark reddish, hind margins of segments obscurely reddish.
Bella Vista, Aug. 7, 1924. Distinct by the coarse sculpture. In the Sandhouse table (1924) it runs to 67, but after that does not fit in well. It could however be compared with H. crassiceps Ellis, H. perpunctatus Ellis or H. cattellce Ellis, which are species of temperate North America, differing in various respects. Halictus balboae sp. n.
Female. Length about 5 mm., anterior wings 3 mm.; head and thorax very dark green, except that the mesothorax and scutellum are brassy green and shining, the mesothorax more brassy that the scutellum; hair thin and pale; clypeus rather sparsely punctured, apical half black and just above the black .a rosy zone; mandibles basally black, apically red; head broad sides of face striate-punctate; flagellum obscure reddish beneath; except at base; mesothorax shining and sparsely punctured; area of met'athorax glistening, strongly plicate; posterior trun- cation small, well defined; tegulse very dark brown; wings hyaline, slightly dusky (greyish, not at all reddish) ; stigma and nervures dull pale reddish brown; legs black, with pale hair, small joints of tarsi slightly reddish; abdomen shining black with narrow thin hair-bands at bases of second and third seg- ments ; apical part diffusely hairy.
Bella Vista, Aug. 7, 1924, three females. H. hypochlorus Ellis is superficially similar, but differs by the narrower, sub- metallic, abdomen, with hind margins of segments more or less reddish..
H. cubitalis Vachal is large (6.75 mm.) and from the meagre description apparently distinct. It is however nearer to this than to any of the other Panama species. !å




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Bees Collected by Nathan Banks
Megalopta fornix panamensis Cockerell
Barro Colorado (Dodge).
Augochlora vesta terpsichore (Holmberg)
Red Tank June 31; Bella Vista, Aug. 7; Ancon, Aug. 9. This is identical with the form from Guayaquil, Ecuador, referred to A. vesta terpsichore, in Jn. N. Y. Ent. Soc. 1914. pp. 324 and 327. If it is different from Holmberg's bee, there is at present no way to show wherein the difference lies. Augochlora nigrocyanea Cockerel]
Ancon, Aug. 6 one female.
Augochlora quiripensis Cockerell
Barro Colorado (Dodge). One female. This has the meso- thorax black with green margins, to this extent agreeing with the variety sidcefolice Cockerell. It is intermediate between the typical form and the variety.
Augochlora cordios.floris Cockerel1 ,
Gamboa, July 9. One female. Compared with the type (from Mexico), it differs by the golden green mesothorax, but this appears to be only a variation.




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