WASP GENUS CERCERIS — SCULLEN 375 



immaculate; venter reddish amber anteriorly, becoming dark amber 

 posteriorly; pygidium broader basally and rounded, the apical end 

 narrowing and truncate. 



Male. — Length 6 to 7 mm. Black with creamy- white and fer- 

 ruginous markings; punctation more widely spaced than average; 

 pubescence short. 



Head slightly wider than the thorax; black except for the face, 

 base of mandibles, and scape, all of which are creamy white; clypeal 

 border with three subequal low denticles on the medial lobe; hair 

 lobes extend over about three-fourths of the lateral clypeal lobes; 

 surface of the medial lobe convex; mandibles without denticles; 

 antennae normal in form, scape largely creamy white, flagellum 

 largely fulvous. 



Thorax black except for two elongate patches on the pronotum, 

 two large spots on the scuteUum, the metanotum, a small patch on 

 the pleuron, and the tegulae, all of which are creamy white; tegulae 

 low and smooth; enclosure with a pitted medial groove and deeply 

 rugose laterally; mesosternal tubercle absent; legs black to the apical 

 ends of the femora, beyond which they are creamy white except for 

 the apical segments of the tarsi, which become darker; the hindtibiae 

 and the hindtarsi dark except for a large, creamy patch on the tibiae ; 

 wings are subhyaline, stigma black. 



Abdomen black or dark fuscous except the first segment and the 

 basal part of the second segment, which are ferruginous, and the 

 following creamy-white markings: broad bands on terga 2 and 3, 

 which have the anteriolateral corners darkened, narrow bands on 

 terga 4 and 5, an evanescent patch on tergum 6; venter with minute, 

 creamy spots laterally on sternites 3 and 4; pygidium with sides 

 convex and the apical end slightly smaller than the basal end. 



The male of crotonella Viereck and Cockerell is close to the males 

 of C. conifrons Mickel and C. hridwelli ScuUen. They are distinguished 

 from conifrons by the more closely crowded punctation and narrow 

 light bands on the abdomen of the latter. They are distinguished 

 from hridwelli by having only two broad bands on the abdomen 

 while the latter has three. The surface punctation is sunilar to 

 hridwelli. 



Type. — The type female of C. crotonella Viereck and Cockerell, 

 taken at Las Cruces, N. Mex., on Sept. 25, 1895, Croton neomexicanum 

 (Cockerell), is at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 

 no. 10039. 



Distribution. — Southern Arizona, New Mexico, and southwestern 

 Texas. 



Prey record. — None. 



