AMERICAN HYMENOPTERA. 



995 



the puucturation is muc)i sparser. Apex of postsciitelluni broadly rounded out- 

 wardly. Sides of metanotuni broadly rounded; the puucturation on tlieni runs 

 into reticulations. ProjileuriE deeply depressed in the middle, the sides obliquely 

 sloped, smooth. The mesopleurae as strongly, but not so closely ])unctured as 

 the mesonotum, except on the basal slope which is smooth. Metapleurse smooth, 

 sparsely punctured round the edges. The basal slope of the first abdominal seg- 

 ment is almost smooth ; its top rough, with an irregular, twisted transverse keel ; 

 the base with a short, but distinct neck almost as in Xortonia ; the rest of the 

 segment is strongly closely punctured ; it is cup-shaped, not quite so long as it is 

 wide at the apex ; the second segment is distinctly longer than wide, punctured, 

 but not so strongly, uor so closely as the first ; its apex is smooth, slightly raised ; 

 the other segments are closely, somewhat strongly, punctured ; as usual, the 

 puucturation on the second segment is rougher at the apex. 



Fedor, Texas ; May. 



If not quite a Xortonia this species certainly forms a transition to 

 tliat group, i. e. the pedicle of first abdominal segment is not so 

 [)rominent as in N. tolteca, but the segment is not sessile, having a 

 short but distinct pedicle. 



Ancistrocerus (Xortonia ?) piioeiiixen^is sp. nov. 



Black, covered with a white pruinose pile ; the underside of the antennal scape, 

 a small square mark over the autennse, a short, narrow line on the upper outer 

 orbits, two large marks on the sides of the pronotuni, obliquely narrowed towards 

 the onterside, a small irregular spot in the centre of the apex of mesonotum, 

 postscutellum, a conical mark below the tegulse, the sides of metanotuni broadly, 

 lines on the apices of the abdominal segments, that on the first narrowed later- 

 ally and having a short oblique projection at the end, and an oval, oblique mark, 

 of moderate size, on the sides of the second segment at the base, pale whitish- 

 yellow. Legs black, the apices of the four hinder femora, the tibite, except on 

 the outerside, and the fore femora broadly al)ove, brownish rufous, the rest of the 

 tibise and the apex of the fore femora whitish-yellow. Flagellum brownish 

 below. Wings hyaline, the radial cellule smoky, the stigma dark testaceous, the 

 iiervures black. The male has the clypeus, a line on the base of the mandibles, 

 aline about three times longer than wide over the anteunse and one on the lower 

 edge of the eye orbits, whitish-yellow. Length 8-9 mm. 



The female clypeus pyriform, as long as broad, sparsely, weakly punctured, its 

 apex narrowly but distinctly depressed, and with a shallow incision, the sides of 

 which are straight, oblique. Thorax about twice longer than wide, its base 

 transverse, not projecting laterally, the sides of the apex not very blunt, rounded 

 on inner, flat on outer side. Apex of post-scutellum gradually bluntly narrowed ; 

 the basal part is prominent, clearly separated. The first abdominal segment 

 cup-shaped, slightly longer than it is wide at the apex, the base distinctly nar- 

 rowed into a neck, the second segment is as long as wide, its apex more strongly 

 punctured than the rest. 



The male has the underside of the antennal scape pale yellow, as is also the 

 clypeus, the other markings being as in the female, except that the marks on the 

 metauotum are smaller; the underside of the flagellum is orange-brown; the 



TKANS. AM. ENT. SOC. XXXIV. (29) JULY, 1908. 



