no. 2173. A REVISION OF THE B EM B WINE WASPS— PARKER. 75 



Genus BEMBIX Fabricius. 



Apis Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 574. 



Bembix Fabricius, Syst. Ent., Char. Gen., 1775, No. 115. 



Benibyx Fabricius, Syst. Ent., 1775, p. 361, No. 115. 



Bembex 1 Fabricius, Gen. Insect, 1776 (or 1777), p. 122. 



Bembex Olivier, Encycl. Meth., vol. 4, 1789, p. 288. 



Bembex Fabricius, Ent. Syst., vol. 2, 1793, p. 247. 



Bembex Latreille, Gen. Crust, et Ins., vol. 4, 1809, p. 97. 



Monedula Dahlbom, Hym. Eur., vol. 1, 1845, p. 492. 



Bembex Handlirsch, Sitz. Akad. Wissensch. Wien, Math. -Nat. CI., vol. 102, 



Abth. 1, 1893, p. 663. 

 Bembex Kohl, Die. Gatt. d. Spheg., 1896, p. 430. 



Type. — Apis rostrata Linnaeus, designated by Latreille 1810, or 

 more recently by Morice and Durant 1915. 



The wasps belonging to this genus vary from 12 to 22 millimeters 

 in length and are comparatively robust in build. The head is as 

 broad as the thorax or even slightly broader in some species. The 

 compound eyes are large, convex, naked, and the facets are of uniform 

 size. The inner margins of the eyes are usually almost parallel, but 

 in some species they diverge toward the vertex and in others toward 

 the clypeus, consequently the shape of the frons is not constant in 

 the genus. The lower margin of the eye reaches the base of the mandi- 

 ble. The anterior ocellar cicatrix is linear, transverse, and slightly 

 curved; the posterior pair are also linear, not transverse, and more 

 nearly semicircular. In at least two species the ocelli are fairly 

 well developed and are probably functional. The occiput is very 

 narrow and the precipitous posterior surface of the head is somewhat 

 concave. The temples are moderately developed but not as broad 

 as the eye seen from the side. 



The mandible is well developed and the outer border is entire; 

 the inner border bears one or two teeth, the development of which 

 in a few species is decidedly weak. The apex ends in a single point. 

 The maxillae are relatively long, but when folded at rest they are 

 concealed beneath the labrum. The maxillary palpi consist of four 

 segments, the labial of two. The labrum is beaklike, much longer 

 than broad, and is deeply emarginate at the apex. In some species 

 it bears a transverse impression above which it shows a slight median 

 prominence. The clypeus is broad and convex and its distal margin 

 curved. The antennae are inserted on the frons quite near its lower 

 border and the distance between them is about equal to the distance 

 from the antenna to the margin of the adjacent eye. The scape is 

 thicker, heavier and usually, but not invariably, longer than any 

 of the flagellar segments. The first segment of the flagellum (pedicel) 



i This is an obvious emendation of the more correctly formed name Bembix. The mentioning of Bembex 

 signata at the bottom of the page is intended to enlarge the generic description so as to include the species 

 that were later separated into the genus Stictia, and can not be construed as limiting the genus to those 

 species congeneric with signata. 



