Superfamily SPHECOIDEA 1605 



Passaloecus Shuckard, 1837. Essay Indig. Fossor. Hym., p. 188. N. name. 



Type-species: Pemphredon insigiiis Vander Linden. Orig. desig. 

 CoeloecHS Verhoeff, 1890. Ent. Nachr. 16: 383. 



Type-species: Diodontns gracilis Curtis. Desig. by Pate, 1937. 

 Heroecus Verhoeff, 1890. Ent. Nachr. 16: 383. No species. 



Type-species: Pemphredon insigtiis Vander Linden. Included and desig. by Pate, 

 1937. 



Most Passaloecus nest in pre-existing borings, cavities in wood or twigs and stems, in decay- 

 ing wood and in abandoned galls, although one extralimital species has been recorded as nesting 

 in sandy soil. Two North American species, annulatus and cuspidatus, and the Holarctic insig- 

 nis, have been reported in North America as making a series of linear cells with the partitions 

 and closing plugs made from resin. The Peckhams' report (1905) of annulatus closing its nest 

 with pellets of mud is questionable and may have been based on a misidentification. However, 

 two species in Europe and Japan are known to form the cell partitions from grains of earth, in- 

 sect feces and other debris, so perhaps anmilatns is not so restricted in its choice of nesting 

 materials as cuspidatus and insignis. Aphids are the preferred prey, but rarely, and perhaps in- 

 advertently, a few psyllids may be included in a cell. 



Taxonomy: Krombein, 1938. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, Bui. 33: 122-127 (key to N. Y. spp.). 

 annulatus annulatus (Say), n. status. Ont., transcont. in U. S. Ecology: Nests in deserted 

 beetle burrows in wood or pith, and in logs. Prey: Drepanaphis acerifoliae (Thos.) ? 

 nymph, D. sp. nymph, Macrosiphum sp. nymph, Neothomasia populicola (Thos.), 

 Aphididae sp. Another subsp. occurs in Korea. 

 Pemphredon annulatus Say, 1837. Boston Jour. Nat. Hist. 1: 379. 9,6. 

 Passalaccus (!) rivertonensis Viereck, 1904. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 30: 243. 6. 

 Passalaecns (!) equalis Viereck, 1906. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 32: 212. 9. 



Biology: Peckham and Peckham, 1905. Wasps, Social and Solitary, pp. 87-89 (nest, prey, life 



cycle). —Krombein, 1955. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, Bui. 50: 16 (prey). —Krombein, 1958. Biol. 



Soc. Wash., Proc 71: 24 (nest, prey). —Krombein, 1960. Ent. News 71: 35-36 (nest, prey). 



—Krombein, 1961. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, Bui. 56: 65 (nest, prey). 

 armeniacae Cockerell. N. Mex., Ariz., Colo., Idaho, Calif., B. C. 



Passaloecus artneniacae Cockerell, 1897. hi Cockerell and Fox, Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 

 Proc. 49: 141. 9. 

 borealis Dahlbom. Alaska, western Canada, Rocky Mts. south to Utah, Colo.; north. Europe 

 and at higher altitudes in south. 



Passaloecus borealis Dahlbom, 1844. Hym. Europaea, v. 1, p. 247. 9,6. 

 cuspidatus Smith. Transcont. chiefly in Transit, and U. Austr. Zones. Ecology: Nests in 



borings in wood, and provisions each cell with 11-52 aphids. Parasite: Anthrax irroratus 

 Say; Poemenia a. americana (Cr.), P. a. nebulosa Hab. and Tow.; Chalcididae sp.; 

 Omalus aeneus (F.), 0. purpuratus (Prov.), 0. cressoni (Aar.). Prey: Cinara abieticola 

 (Choi.), C.fortnacula Hottes, Pterocomma bicolor (Oest.), Macrosiphum euphorbiae 

 (Thos.), M. rosae (L.), M. spp., Myzus porosus (Sand.), Masonaphis sp., Rhopalosiphum 

 sp., Euceraphis betulae (Koch). Predator: Philanthus pulcher D. T., P. pacificus Cr. 



Passaloecus cuspidatus Smith, 1856. Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus., v. 4, p. 427. 9. 



Pemphredon mandibularis Cresson, 1865. Ent. Soc. Phila., Proc. 4: 487. 9. 



Passaloecus distinctus Fox, 1892. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 19: 319. 



Passaloecus dispar Fox, 1892. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 19: 320. 6. 



Taxonomy: Evans, 1958. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 84: 131-132, figs. 60-64 (larva). —Evans, 

 1959. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 85: 167 (larva). —Evans, 1964. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 90: 

 250-251 (larva). 



Biology: Packard, 1869. Guide Study Ins., p. 161 (nest, prey, parasite). —Krombein, 1956. 

 Brooklyn Ent. Soc, Bui. 51: 42-43 (nest, prey). —Krombein, 1958. Biol. Soc Wash., Proc. 

 71: 24-25 (nest, prey). — Fye, 1965. Canad. Ent. 97: 740, 742 (nest, prey, parasite, life cycle). 

 —Krombein, 1967. Trap-nesting wasps and bees, pp. 236-239, figs. 66, 67 (nest, prey, life 

 cycle, parasites). —Evans, 1973. Great Basin Nat. 33: 154-155 (nest, prey, parasites, 

 predators). 



