314 



SPHEGID^. 



Genus OXYBELUS. 



Vespa, pt., Liim. Si/st. Nat. i, p. 948 (17G6). 



Api8, pt. ; Noniada, pt., Fadr. Mant. i, pp. 299 & 306 (1787). 



Crabro, pt., Fair. Ent. Syst. ii, p. 293 (179-j), 



Oxybelus, Latr. Hist. Nat. Crust, et Ins. xiii, p. 307 (1805). 



Type, 0. lineatus., Fabr. 

 Ranrje. Both hemispheres. 



Head subglobose, about as wide as the thorax ; clypeus transverse, 

 narrow, auteuuifi filiform or subciavate ; thorax short, compact ; pro- 



notum transverse posteriorly, linear ; 

 scutellum ti-ansverse, lunular, having 

 at its latei-al angles a projecting 

 squama ; median segment truncate 

 ~CI^r^^^ "^^^^M posteriorly, with at its base a mucro, 

 ■( a^i^ which is generally in the shape of a 



spout, the lateral edges being re- 

 curved ; sometimes it is flat and 

 Fig. 88. lamellar, the apex often incised ; legs 



Oxybelus tridentatus, !^ . f. moderately long and stout, the an- 

 terior tarsi strongly ciliated in the 

 female; intermediate and posterior tibiae spinose, the former with 

 one apical spine or spur ; fore wing with the radial cell slightly 

 appendiculate, and one cubital cell which is confluent with the 2ud 

 discoidal cell; abdomen subtruncate at base, conical, short and 

 broad. 



Nothing, so far as I know, is on record of the habits of the 

 Eastern species belonging to this genus. The European species 

 form tunnels in sandy ground, and store the nests so formed with 

 Diptera. 



Key to the Species. 



A. Mucro lamellar. 



a. Mucro bright coppery red : $ , length 



7 mm . . O. squamosifs, p. 315. 



b. Mucro black, apex ferruginous : § , length 



9 mm O. robustus, p. 315. 



B. Mucro not lamellar, but with the sides 



curved up. 

 a. Lateral squamae always present. 

 a'. Clypeus cavinate. 



a^. Carina broad, slightly projecting at 



apex of clypeus O. sabulosus, p. 316. 



V^. Carina narrow, very prominent and 

 projecting, curved over apex of 



clypeus O. acjilis, p. 316. 



h'. Clypeus not cariuate. 



«-. Anterior margin of clypeus tri- 



dentate \ O. tridentatus, p. 317. 



i^. Anterior margin of clypeus trans- 

 verse or arched. 

 a^. Mucro rounded at apex O. nanus, p. 317. 



