WASP GENUS CERCERIS — SCULLEN 457 



tubercles absent; legs dark to or near the apical ends of the femora, 

 beyond which they are yellow infused with brown; wings subhyaline 

 clouded with amber and darker toward the apex. 



Abdomen with subequal bands covering about the posterior third 

 of terga 2 to 5; tergum 1 with the band broken into two patches; 

 venter immaculate; pygidium with the sides subparallel and the apical 

 end rounded. 



Male. — Length 9 mm. Black to dark fuscous with light yellow 

 (almost cream) markings; punctation somewhat less crowded than 

 average; pubescence slightly longer than average. 



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

 base of mandibles, and the scape, aU of which are yellow; clypeal 

 border with two distinct, widely separated denticles, which are black; 

 hair lobes subequal in width to the width of the lateral lobes; surface 

 of the medial lobe of the clypeus depressed but not concave; manibles 

 with a low sinuate carina but no distinct denticles; antennae with 

 the apical segment blunt and slightly curved. 



Thorax black except two patches on the pronotum, the metanotum, 

 two patches on the propodeum, and the tegulae, all of which are 

 light yellow; tegulae low and smooth; enclosure smooth except for 

 a central groove and limited ridges in the lateral angles; mesosternal 

 tubercles absent; first pair of legs dark over the basal parts to the 

 apical ends of the femora, otherwise yellow shaded with fulvous; 

 the second pair of legs yellow shaded with fulvous except for a dark 

 area on the basal half of the femora; the third pair of legs are dark 

 except the basal parts to middle of the femora and the basal half of 

 the tibiae, which are yellow clouded with fulvous; wings subhyaline 

 except for the usual clouded area at the apex. 



Abdomen dark except for two lateral patches on the first tergum, 

 subequal narrow bands on terga 2 to 6, and small lateral patches on 

 sternites 2 to 4, all of which are light yellow; pygidium with sides 

 subparallel but slightly convex, the apical end truncate and the 

 lateral angles slightly rounded. 



The identification of the males is based on specimens collected by 

 Dr. K. V. Krombein at Powder Mills, N.C. 



The female of C. astarte Banks closely resembles the female of C. 

 nigrescens arelate Banks in size and color pattern as well as in its 

 distribution, but the form of the clypeal process and the pygidium 

 will easily separate them. 



Types. — The type female of C. astarte Banks, from Falls Church, 

 Va., Sept. 7, 8, 1912, is at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 

 Harvard, no. 13788. 



Distribution. — -This rare species has been taken in the Northeast- 



