ODYNERUS QUADRATUS. 20? 



and mandibles yellow ; the flagellum fulvous beneath, and the 

 two apical joints entirely so ; the spot beneath the wings want- 

 ing : otherwise resembling the female ; the head and thorax in 

 both sexes with a thin rufous pubescence. 



This is a very variable species : the form of the band on the 

 basal segment is very inconstant, being widely emarginate, an- 

 gularly notched, bordering the posterior margin of the segment 

 and the sides ; or, in rare instances, the basal segment is yellow 

 above, with a small quadrate spot in the middle : the colouring 

 of the tarsi is also very variable ; the posterior pair, or the inter- 

 mediate and posterior pairs, dark fuscous ; at other times they 

 are stained with ferruginous. Notwithstanding the great varia- 

 tions to which this species is subject, I am not prepared to con- 

 sider the 0. quadratus of Panzer as synonymous, as has been 

 done by Saussure ; or perhaps I should say, I feel sure that two 

 species are mixed by that author. My reason for adopting this 

 opinion is, that I bred the following insect, every specimen 

 exactly agreeing with the description, without the slightest ten- 

 dency to partake of the form or colouring of the abdomen of 

 0. parietum. 



8. Odynerus quadratus. 



0. niger ; clypeo maculis duabus, punctis inter antennas, scutello 

 punctis duobus abdomineque fasciis quinque flavis, primo 

 quadrato-emarginato. 



Vespa quadrata, Panz. Faun. Germ. 63. 3 $ ? 



Odynerus parietum, pt., Sauss. Mon. Guepes Sol. 130. 10. 



Female. Length 5-6 lines. Black, punctured, and variegated 

 with yellow ; closely resembling O. parietum. Differs from the 

 latter species in having the clypeus truncated at its anterior 

 margin, the angles not subdentate ; very rarely having more 

 than a single spot on each side of the clypeus, the anterior 

 spots obsolete ; the thorax distinctly, and obviously, more 

 elongate. Abdomen : the first segment with the sides nearly 

 parallel, not narrowed towards the thorax, as in 0. parietum ; 

 above yellow, and widely quadrate-emarginate ; the second 

 segment proportionably longer, and less swollen at the sides. 



The Male differs from that of 0. parietum in being more strongly 

 punctured ; in having the tegulae usually black ; the legs not so 

 clear a yellow, and more liable to be stained with black or fer- 

 ruginous ; it has also usually two yellow spots on the clypeus ; 

 the abdomen differs in the same particulars as the female from 

 0. parietum. 



