ART. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FERNALD 31 



Sphex {P sammophila) violaceipennis (Lepeletier) Rohwer, Bull. 22, Conn. Geol. 



& Nat. Hist. Surv., p. 681, 1916. 

 Psamfnophila violaceipennis (Lepeletier) Rohwer, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 53, 



p. 241, 1917. 

 Psammophila violaceipennis (Lepeletier) Mickel, Univ. Neb. Studies, vol. 17, 



p. 88, 1917. 

 Psammophila violaceipennis (Lepeletier) Carter, Can. Ent., vol. 57, p. 132, 1925. 



Head, thorax, and legs black; abdomen ferruginous and black in 

 varying proportions; wings semihyaline to quite fuliginous; rather 

 slender insects for their length; hairs varjnngfrom all black (females 

 generally and some males) to nearly all white, with all gradations 

 between these extremes. 



Female. — Hairs on head and body usually black; sometimes white 

 or white-tipped on hinder end of thoracic mass, this condition extend- 

 ing forward different distances in different specimens. 



Head: Broad; clypeus swollen centrally; its front margin broadly 

 curved, the outer third reflexed and smooth, its center very slightly 

 emarginate; surface coarsely, quite closely punctured; frons similarly 

 punctured; with an evident, median, depressed line from antennal 

 insertions to median ocellus; antennae black; filament rather brownish 

 sericeous; second filament segment varying from a little over half 

 to nine- tenths the length of the first; mandibles black to piceous; more 

 or less tinged with ferruginous near the middle. 



Thorax: Pronotum rather less closely and coarsely punctured than 

 the frons; rugose in front of the prothoracic lobe which is nearly 

 smooth; mesonotum similarly punctured; with an evident, median, 

 depressed line on its front half; scutellum punctured and also slightly 

 rugose; postscutellum with a rather high, transverse ridge centrally; 

 propodeal disk coarsely punctured; with irregular rugosities, becoming 

 rather more regular and transverse behind (quite variable in different 

 examples) ; its end, near the petiole, and its sides with weak, nearly 

 vertical rugosities ; metapleuron rather more sparsely punctured, the 

 punctures tending to lie in nearly vertical rows, producing almost 

 a weakly rugose appearance; mesopleuron rather sparsely and 

 coarsely punctured. 



Abdomen: Petiole black; from 68 to 89 hundredths the length of 

 hind coxa and trochanter together (very variable and unreliable as a 

 distinctive character; see Measurements, page 6); abdominal mass 

 ferruginous and black, varying in distribution from ferruginous on 

 posterior margin of first dorsal plate and petiolar expansion beneath, 

 and the second segment, to ferruginous for the entire abdominal 

 mass, though darkened at tip; tip of abdomen with scattered, minute 

 punctures, particularly below. 



Wings: More or less fuliginous, particularly beyond the veins; 

 with a violet tinge; veins dark; tegulae varying from black, through 

 black with light margin to entirely pale. 



