T. D. A. Cockerell.
Some Neotropical Bees.
Psyche 17:142-144, 1910.

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Psyche
[August
SOME NEOTROPICAL BEES.
Hemisia lanipes (Fabr.).
Antigua, West Indies (C. A. Barber) Brit. Museum. Hemisia semilabrosa sp. nov.
?. Length 13% mm.; almost exactly like -0. labrosa (Friese), but the labrum, though longer than in H. lanipes, is still evidently broader than long; the clypeus is smooth and very sparsely punctured, with the median third concave; the abdomen is entirely clear red; the hair on the inner side of the hind basitarsus is very dark chocolate, but that on the outer side of the hind legs is pale reddish. The concave clypeus suggests H. monte- mma (Cress.). Labrum notched at apex, pale yellow with two oval pale brown marks; mandibles pale yellow basally, a minute elevation on inner side toward the base, and the apical half with three teeth, the large apical one, a small one projecting from its side, and a large sharp tooth on inner side not far beyond the middle; under side of head with long white hair; eyes straw-yellow, rather narrowly fuscous in front; scape short, dark; flagellum dark ferruginous beneath except at base; front with pale yellow- ish-grey hair more or less tipped with fuscous; vertex with black hair; thorax above with short light greyish-brown hair tipped with fuscous; at sides the hair is pale ochraceous, not dark-tipped; tegula pale testaceous; wings dilute smoky, nervures black, venation practically as in lanipes; legs dark, with pale reddish hair, the hind tibiae, and middle and hind tarsi, becoming ferruginous; anterior and middle basitarsi each with a longi- tudinal, curved, sharp keel on anterior margin toward the inner side; anterior and middle knees with a small pale yellow spot; the scanty hair of abdomen rufofuscous, clear red at apex. General appearance like H. lanipes, but larger, with the two large yellow marks on the clypeus triangular.
Hob.-Ecuador (Rosenberg). British Museum, 99-104. In Friese's table of the subgenus Rhodocentris this runs nearest to H. tarsata (Smith), which is only known in the male. H. tarsata comes from Santarem, and is only Q^k mm. long, and otherwise seems distinct from H. semilabrosa.
Agapostemon swainsonae sp. nov.
d. Length about 8 mm.; head and thorax brilliant green, abdomen and legs dull ferruginous; front and mesothorax smooth and shining, with a very strong golden lustre, the sculpture consisting of delicate weak striae



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19101 Cockerell -Some Neotropical Bees 143 and very minute and sparse punctures; clypeus prominent, with an obtuse but strong median ridge; at each side of the clypeus, toward the apex, is a small shining black tubercle, and the apical margin is broadly pale yellow, the labrum, and mandibles except apex, being of the same color; hair of face and vertex strongly tawny, of cheeks dull white; scape yellow in front; flagellum dark ferruginous above, light ferruginous beneath, the apical half crenulate; scutellum smooth and shining, with very minute punctures; pleura roughened anteriorly, strongly striate posteriorly; metathorax without any defined enclosure or sharp margin round the apical truncation, the whole surface strongly striate, the striae oblique, those on the trunca- tion approximately at right angles to those on the part above; sides of metathorax with pale yellowish coarsely plumose hair; tegulae pale rufo- testaceous; wings rather dusky, stigma and nervures dark brown, first r. n. joining second s. m. far beyond the middle; legs ferruginous, the hind femora greatly swollen, dusky above, with a broadly triangular tooth be- neath toward the apex; hind tibiae thick, the inner edge sharp; hind basi- tarsi with a prominent obtuse tubercle beneath; abdomen dark ferruginous with a slight purplish (not metallic) tint, the hind margins of the segments broadly paler.
Hub.-Jamaica (Mrs. E. M. Swainson). Brit. Museum. Near- est to the Cuban. A. fernoralis Gukrin, but easily known by the smooth, shining mesothorax and scutellum. Augochlora regina Smith.
9. Jamaica; "P. G. R., St. Thomas, June." (Mrs. E. M. Swain- son). Brit. Museum.
Coelioxys f oxii Viereck.
d. Kingston, Jamaica, Nov., 1893.
Brit. Museum.
Melissa friesei Ducke.
d. Brazil (W. H. Bates) ; F. Smith collection. Brit. Museum. Although long ago discovered by Bates, this beautiful species was not described until 1902.
The specimen before me has the abdomen brilliant blue; Ducke's description says "nigrocaeruleus." The bifid spur of the middle tibia has the anterior branch quadridentate, a fact not indicated by Ducke, and the specimen is a little smaller than Ducke's type. It is just possible that ac- tual comparison would indicate that our insect is separable, but except for the points mentioned, the structural and color characters are all in accord with M'. friesei.
M. maculata Friese must be closely allied. M. decorata Smith was described from "Brazil." The original specimens were taken by Bates in S. Paulo.



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Psyche
Mesocheira bicolor (Fabr.).
[August
A female in the British Museum, labelled "Guiana," is only 10 mm. long.
Isepeolus octopunctatus (Jorgensen).
Jorgensen described this species (under Epeolus) in 1906 from a single female.
Two of the same sex are in the British Museum, from Patagonia (V. del Lago Blanco, Chubut). They agree with
the original description, except that they show two more small white spots on the abdomen, on the hind margin of the fourth seg- ment. In one of the specimens these spots are barely visible. Jorgensen remarks that his species is allied to E. luctuosus Spinola. From the particulars given by Jorgensen and F. Smith, I suspect that Isepeolus albopictus Ckll. may not be separable from I. luc- tuosus (Spin.), the latter being no doubt an Isepeolus. It is to be noted, however, that I. luctuosus was described from Chile, and was considerably smaller than I. albopictus; it is not unlikely that there are two species, one Chilian and the other in the Argentine, the lat- ter being really albopictus, though recorded by Jorgensen as luctu- osus. The genus Calospiloma Brethes, based on Epeolus viperinus Holmg., can hardly be separated from Isepeolus, unless the tri- dentate mandibles may suffice for the purpose. Brethes refers I. luctuosus to Calospiloma.




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