30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.71 



The other pair referred to, in the collection of the Academy, 

 showed three specimens of this same species, two males and a female, 

 and was labeled: 'Tyramid Pk. at 8,000 ft., El Dorado Co., Cal., 

 VIII, 15, 1902. Coll. by E. C. Van Dyke." Correspondence with 

 Doctor Van Dyke about this capture has produced the following 

 statement from him: "I remember * * * capturing the three 

 specimens, killing them in a separate bottle, and mounting them as 

 noted by you. It was my belief at the time that a male had pounced 

 upon a female and was in the act of mating when a rival pounced upon 

 him and attempted to replace him. Sphecidae caught in the act of 

 mating are none too common so I made an effort to preserve this trio 

 so as to enable whoever worked up my catch to be given as much aid 

 as possible * * * It has been my habit when collecting Coleop- 

 tera to mount pairs upon the same pin whenever they were at all 

 different and in my miscellaneous collecting I have simply carried 

 out the same idea." 



Four specimens of those which have come under my observation 

 have abnormal venation, three males and a female. In the female a 

 vein stub from the middle of the second transverse cubital enters 

 the second cubital cell for a short distance, in both wings. In a male 

 from Colorado the second transverse cubital vein in one wing is 

 incomplete and with a cross bar anteriorly, while in the other it has 

 a sharp central bend into the second cubital cell. A California male 

 has an incomplete second transverse cubital running back and out, 

 but not reaching the cubital vein, in both wings. A small male, 

 without data, has three cubital cells on one side, the third barrel- 

 shaped as in jpacifica Melander and Brues, on one side, while on the 

 other side the second transverse cubital is entirely absent, giving the 

 venation of Coleoptera. 



One male has been found stylopized. 



PODALONIA VIOLACEIPENNIS (Lepeletler) 



Ammophila violaceipennis Lepeletier, Hist. Nat. Ins. Hym., vol. 3, p. 370, 1845. 



Female. 

 Ammophila atriceps Smith, Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus., vol. 4, p. 221, 1856. Female 



and male. 

 Ammophila cementaria Smith, Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus., vol. 4, p. 223, 1856. Female. 

 Ammophila robusta Cresson, Proc. Ent. Soc. Phila., vol. 4, p. 461, 1865. Female. 

 Ammophila communis Cresson, Proc. Ent. Soc. Phila., vol. 4, p. 462, 1865. Male. 

 Ammophila alpestris Cameron, Biol. Centr.-Am., Hym., vol. 2, p. 21, 1888. Male. 

 Psammophila violaceipennis Lepeletier) Melander and Brues, Biol. Bull., vol. 



3, p. 41, 1902. 

 Psammophila pacifica Melander and Brues, Biol. Bull., vol. 3, p. 42, 1902, 



Male. 

 Ammophila (Psammophila) violaceipennis (Lepeletier) Melander, Psyche, vol. 



10, pp. 156, 159, 162, 1903. 

 Psammophila violaceipennis (Lepeletier) H. S. Smith, Univ. Neb. Studies, vol. 8, 



p. 8, 1908. Female. 



