2 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 209 



it may be regarded as incorrect or unverified as far as my own re- 

 searches are concerned. 



Between August 1952 and February 1954, while this paper was 

 awaiting pubhcation, K. V. Krombein has published five papers con- 

 taining brief but interesting habitat notes on a number of pepsines. 

 Most of his specimens have been studied and included in my distri- 

 butional data, but his habitat notes are more exact and detailed than 

 I have listed them. They can be consulted on the following pages: 

 1952, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 78, pp. 91-92; 1952, Proc. Ent. 

 Soc. Washington, vol. 54, pp. 176-177; 1953, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash- 

 ington, vol. 55, p. 180; 1954, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, vol. 49, pp. 

 3-4; and 1954, Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington, vol. 56, p. 230. 



This paper completes a taxonomic revision of the Nearctic Psammo- 

 charidae, other sections of the family having been treated as follows: 

 Aporini by Bradley, 1944, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 70, pp. 23-157. 

 Psammocharini by Evans, 1950 and 1951, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 

 vol. 75, pp. 133-270; vol. 76, pp. 207-361; and vol. 77, pp. 203-340. 

 Pejpsis by Hurd, 1952, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vol. 98, pp. 261- 

 334. 



The family name 



Pompilidae, rather than Psammocharidae is a name sometimes used 

 for this family, but it may not be so used correctly. The generic name 

 Pompilus Fabricius 1898, type of the family name Pompilidae, has 

 Pompilus viaticus Fabricius as its genotype. Pompilus viaticus is a spe- 

 cies of Sphecidae, because of which the generic name Pompilus may be 

 used correctly only in the Sphecidae. In regard to the name Psam- 

 mocharidae, its type genus is Psammochares Latreille, 1896, with the 

 genotype Sphex fusca Linnaeus. Fusca is a species of the subfamily 

 Psammocharinae in the present family. The generic name Psammo- 

 chares is the oldest name in the family and as such may be used as the 

 type of the family name. Pate (1946, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, vol. 

 72, pp. 123-128) has discussed this nomenclatorial situation in detail. 



Older authors have used the name Pompilidae for the family without 

 considering its validity, but in 1910 Banks introduced usage of the 

 correct name, Psammocharidae, which steadily gained favor until by a 

 generation later the majority of the basic literature of the world used 

 this name. Certain workers who wished to continue using the name 

 Pompilidae, however, appealed to the International Commission on 

 Zoological Nomenclature for an arbitrary declaration that Psam- 

 mocharidae was incorrect and Pompilidae was correct. The Inter- 

 national Commission obliged b}^ issuing in 1945 its Opinion No. 166, 

 throwing its influence behind the usage of the name Pompilidae and 

 against the name Psamm.ocharidae. This is one of a series of similar 

 actions by the International Commission whose purpose has been to 



