H Y MEN OP TEKA . 



655 



Family MIMESID/E (Mi-mes'i-dae). 

 The Mimesids (Mi-me 1 sids). 



The Mimesids are small digger-wasps in which the base 

 of the abdomen is slender, forming a petiole 

 much like that of the Sphecids, but differing in 

 being flattened and usually furrowed above 

 (Fig. 780). These digger-wasps are much 

 smaller than the true thread-waisted wasps. 

 Less than a score of North American species 

 are known. They make their burrows in 

 the pith of brambles, and provision them FlG ' 78o s ^ A Mime " 

 with Aphids or Psyllids. 



Family PEMPHREDONID^; (Pem-phre-don'i-dae). 



The Pemphredonids (Pem-phre-do' nids). 

 Most of the species of this family are slender insects, of 

 small size and shining black color. They can be distin- 



FIG. 781. Wings of a Pephredonid. 



guished from the closely-related families by the 

 presence of two, and only two, closed submarginal 

 cells (Fig. 781, 2d III-j-in 5 and III 4 ). It is a 

 small family, including scarcely a dozen North 

 American species. 



The Pemphredonids usually burrow in the pith 

 of dry branches and provision their burrows with plant-lice. 



FIG. 782. 



