352 



EUMENIDjB. 



Fig. 102. 

 Ehynchmm fltn'olineafum, 5. \. 

 1, maudible ; 2, maxilla ; 3, claw. 



united about equal in length to the third joint : antennae filiform ; 

 ocelli three, complete, round, placed in a broad triangle on the vertex. 



Thorax ovate ; pronotum short iu 

 front, the lateral angles carried pos- 

 teriorly to the base of the wings ; 

 mesonotum large, generally broadly 

 egg - shaped, posteriorly broader 

 than in front ; postscutellum promi- 

 nent as a rule ; median segment 

 vertical, depressed beneath the 

 postscutellum, the sides bulging, 

 often produced posteriorly and 

 dentate, the apex of the segment 

 generally concavo-truncaf e ; legs 

 slender, short, the intermediate 

 tibiae with one apical spine, the 

 claws unidentate beneath. Wings 

 long, broad, and ample ; fore wing 

 with the radial cell moderately 

 large, slightly appendiculate ; three 

 cubital cells, the 1st, measured on the cubital nervure, as long as 

 or longer than the 2nd and 3rd united, the 2nd irregdarly trian- 

 gular, with the apex of the triangle truncate, receiving the 1st 

 recurrent nervure before and the 2nd recurrent nervure after the 

 middle ; 3rd cubital cell quadrate. Abdomen pseudosessile, never 

 petiolate ; basal segment cup-shaped, or only slightly constricted 

 and narrowed. 



The species of this genus are solitary or in pairs, never in social 

 communities. The Indian species come freely into houses, building 

 little round shells of clay for nests, and provisioning these with 

 caterpillars. Occasionally an already existing cavity is made use 

 of, and the aperture closed with a clay lid. 



Key to the Species. 



A. Basal segment of abdomeu slightly constricted, 



the apex distinctly narrower than the base of 

 the 2nd segment. 



a. Clypeiis nearly as broad at apex as at base, 



not marked with yellow. 

 a'. Legs black, intermediate and posterior 



femora blood-red ; wings hyaline at base. R. erythropus, p. 353. 

 b'. Legs orange-brown, femora concolorous ; 



wings not hyaline at base R. moUeri, p. 354. 



b. Clypeus much narrower at apex than at base, 



marked with yellow ( $ ) R. cujjreipenne, 



B. Basal segment of abdomen cup-shaped, not [p. 354. 



constricted nor distinctly narrower than the 

 base of the 2nd segment. 

 a. "Wings deep ferruginous yellow. 



a'. Wings fuscous brown for one-third or 



more of their length from base ; basal 



segment of abdomen entirely black. 



