ART. 1 AMERICAN WASPS OF THE GENUS SCELIPHRON PORTER 1 1 



range of which probably extends farther south than that of as- 

 simile. The two species have been confused in the literature, which 

 adds to the difficulty in determining the exact range of each. 



Types. — The type of assimile was studied by Dr. H. T. Fernald 

 at the University of Lund in 1913. Kohl makes no mention of the 

 type of nicar'aguanuin, but his locality record reads " Nicaragua, 

 Mus. Berol." 



Notes made by Doctor Fernald on the type of assimile have greatly 

 supplemented the original meager description, and have convinced 

 the writer that the form under present consideration is the same 

 as that described by Dahlbom under this name. >S'. figulum and 

 assimile were both described by Dahlbom on the same page. The 

 only difference noted was in the shade of the color of the wings 

 and of the wing venation, which is wholly inadequate as a dis- 

 tinguishing character. While the original description of -figulum 

 gives the locality as " Gallia meridionalis," this was presumably 

 an error, since in the key to the species on page 434 of the same 

 volume the locality is given as America, and figulum has been 

 very generally accepted as an American species. Assimile was first 

 recorded as a Cuban species. While the two names, f.gulum and 

 assimile^ may have been originally used for the same form, it seems 

 more likely that the specimens from which the description of figu- 

 lum, was prepared were the form next discussed in the present paper. 

 In the uncertainty, it seems best to keep the name assimile for the 

 only West Indian form to which these two descriptions could apply, 

 since the type locality for assimile is Cuba, while that of figulum. 

 is unknown. 



A study of the male genitalia of assimile show it to be undoubtedly 

 distinct from caementai'ium^ which is further evident from the 

 constantly darker color of the posterior legs of both sexes of 

 assimMe. The form nicaraguanum^ described by Kohl as a variety 

 of caementarium,^ is evidently identical with assimile. 



This species is undoubtedly distinct from figulum-; sufficient evi- 

 dence of this is offered by the unusual shape of the teeth of the 

 clypeus of the male of the latter, which are long and slender, quite 

 different from those of any other species of Sceliphr&n. I share 

 Kohl's difficulty in distingui£hing between the females of the two 

 forms, and have been unable to find any constant difference. 



SCEUPHRON FIGULUM (Dahlbom) 



Pelopoeus figtdus Dz^hlbom, 1843, Hymen. Europ., vol. 1, p. 23, no. 6, female. 

 Pelopoeus nindex Lepeletieb, 1845, Hist. Nat. Insect., Hym., vol. 3, p. 317, 



no. 17, male. 

 Pelopoeus bimaculatus Lepeletieb, 1845, Hist. Nat. Insect., Hym,, vol. 3, p. 



319, no. 19, female. 

 Pelopoetis chilensis Spinola, 1851, Hist. lis. Chile Zool., vol. 6, p. 39.5, no. 1, 



female, male. 



