1684 Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico 



Subfamily MELLININAE 



Taxonomy: Maidl and Klima, 1939. Hym. Cat., Pars 8, Sphecidae, v. 1, pp. 30-43 (world 

 catalog). —Evans, 1959. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 85: 145-147, figs. 23-30 (larva). 



Genus MELLINUS Fabricius 



MelUnus Fabricius, 1790. Skrivt. Naturhist. Selsk., h. 1, p. 226. 



Type-species: Vespa arvensis Linnaeus. Desig. by Curtis, 1836. 

 Milliynus Gimmerthal, 1836. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscow, Bui. 9: 449. Lapsus or emend. 



Nothing is known of the biology of the North American species. The European arvensis (L.) 

 nests gregariously in the ground, makes multicelled nests with each cell on a branch off the main 

 burrow, preys primarily on muscoid Diptera and stores 4-9 flies per cell. 



Revision: Fox, 1894. Ent. News 5: 201-203 (N. Amer. spp.). 



Taxonomy: Siri and Bohart, 1974. Pan-Pacific Ent. 50: 169-176, 16 figs, (synopsis of world 

 spp.). 

 abdominalis Cresson. Nebr., Colo., Wyo., Mont. 



Mellhius abdominalis Cresson, 1882 (1881). Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 9: Proc, p. xxxix. 9, 



6. 

 Mellinus abdominalis var. personatus Fox, 1894. Ent. News 5: 202. 9. 



bimaculatus Packard. Maine, N. H., Mass., N. Y., Pa., N. J., Ohio, Mich.; Mexico (Jalisco, 

 Oaxaca). 

 Mellinus bimaculatus Harris, 1835. In Hitchcock, Rpt. Geol. Mineral. Hot. Zool. Mass., p. 



68. Norn. nud. 

 Mellinus bimaculatus Packard, 1867. Ent. Soc. Phila., Proc. 6: 419. 9. 

 Mellinus wolcotti Smith, 1908. Ent. News 19: 299. 9. 

 imperialis Bohart. Calif. (Imperial Co.); Mexico (Sonora). 



Mellinus imperialis Bohart, 1968. Pan-Pacific Ent. 44: 235, fig. 14. d, 9. 

 rufinodus Cresson. Mont, Colo., S. Dak., Tex., N. Mex., Ariz., Utah; Mexico (Chihuahua, 

 Durango, Guerrero, Mexico, Aguascalientes). 

 Mellinus rufinodus Cresson, 1865. Ent. Soc. Phila., Proc. 4: 475. 9, c^. 



Family NYSSONIDAE 



All members of this large cosmopolitan family nest in the ground. They are commonly called 

 sand wasps. 



Taxonomy: Rohwer, 1921. U. S. Natl. Mus., Proc. 59: 404 (key to tribes). —Pate, 1938. Amer. 

 Ent. Soc, Trans. 64: 119-120 (key to tribes). —Evans and Lin, 1956. Amer. Ent. Soc, 

 Trans. 82: 35-66, 13 pis. (larvae). —Evans, 1959. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 85: 149-156, figs. 

 36-42, 60, 62, 63, 71-73 (larvae). —Evans, 1964. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 90: 253-273, figs. 

 26-58 (larvae). 



Biology: Evans, 1966. Compar. ethology and evolution of sand wasps, 526 pp., 215 figs., 47 

 tabs. 



Subfamily ALYSSONINAE 



Revision: Handlirsch, 1895. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-Nat. Kl., Sitzber. 104: 830-839 (world 

 spp.). 



Genus ALYSSON Panzer 



Alysson Jurine, 1801. Intell. Blatt. Litt.-Ztg. Erlangen, v. 1, p. 164. Name suppressed by 



Internatl. Comn. Zool. Nomencl., Op. 135, 1939. 

 Alysson Panzer, 1806. Krit. Rev. Insektenf. Deutschlands, v. 2, p. 169. 



Type-species: Pompilus spinosus Panzer. Desig. by Morice and Durrant, 1915. 

 Alyson Jurine, 1807. Nouv. Meth. Class. Hym. Dipt, p. 195. 



Type-species: Pompilus spinosus Panzer. Monotypic 



