WASP GENUS CERCERIS — SCULLEN 383 



Eriogonum abertianum neomexicana (Arizona), yellow composit 

 (Arizona) , 



17. Cerceris irene Banks 



Figures 20, 120a,b,c 

 Cerceris irene Banks, 1912a, p. 26— ScuUen, 1951, p. 1008. 



Female. — ^Length 7 to 8 mm. Color dark amber, reddish amber 

 and yellow; closely and deeply pitted; clothed with very short silvery 

 hairs. 



Head one-fifth wider than thorax; amber except face, basal half 

 of mandibles, scape, patch on gena, and elongate patches on vertex, 

 which are yellow; ocellar area dark amber; clypeal border with one 

 central denticle-like process, to each side of which is a broad extension 

 of the clypeal border; clypeal process with a broad rounded base 

 narrowing to a truncate point; mandibles with two centrally located 

 denticles, the apical one the larger; antennae normal in form, scape 

 yellow, peduncle and flagellum light amber. 



Thorax reddish amber below to dark amber or black above except 

 two elongate patches on the pronotum, two patches on the scutellum, 

 the metanotum, patch on the pleuron, and the tegulae, all of which 

 are yellow somewhat infused with light amber; tegulae elevated and 

 somewhat pitted; enclosure reddish amber to dark amber, deeply 

 rugose transversely; propodeum reddish amber to amber; mesosternal 

 tubercle present; legs reddish amber; wings subhyaline except the 

 stigma, which is darker. 



Abdomen, tergum 1 reddish amber with a broad emarguiate yellow 

 to amber patch; terga 2 to 5 with broad emarginate bands of yellow 

 infused with amber; venter reddish amber to dark amber with reddish 

 amber bands on sternites 2 to 3; pygidium with convex sides and 

 truncate ends. 



Male. — The male of irene has not been isolated. It is probably 

 being confused with the males of closely related species (see note under 

 rufinoda rufinoda Cresson, p. 394) . 



C. irene Banks is extremely variable in color shade and the extent 

 of color markings. The ground color varies from black to medium 

 amber. The yellow patches on the pronotum and the scutellum may 

 fuse to form bands on the respective parts. 



Type. — The type female, from Fedor, Lee Co., Tex., June 25 

 (Birkman), is at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 

 University, no. 13781. 



Distribution. — Except for the one Minnesota record, C. irene 

 Banks is found only in the Western and South Central States of 

 Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana. 

 Specimens are as follows: 



