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Psyche 
[Vol. 92 
North and Middle American relatives, but must be used with care in 
considering the complex South American fauna. A complete des- 
cription is furnished later in this study antecedent to the key for 
Chromocryptus species. 
My concept of Chromocryptus agrees with Townes earlier inter- 
pretations (1962: 256-7). Some recent authors (Porter 1967: 206-11, 
Townes 1966: 68) have regarded Chromocryptus as a species group 
within the immense, almost exclusively South American genus Tra- 
chysphyrus Haliday. In 1969 (179-81), Townes restricted Chromo- 
cryptus to those “ Trachysphyrus ” in which the axillus vein runs 
close to the posterior margin of the hind wing. This arrangement 
still leaves under Chromocryptus a heterogeneous and perhaps poly- 
phyletic complex of more than 45 species. I thus prefer to return to 
Townes’ 1962 perception of the genus and to regard it as comprising 
only those species intimately related to the North American C. 
planosae. This viewpoint has been strengthened by discovery of 5 
previously unknown Argentine and Peruvian taxa that agree in 
most points with C. planosae. 
Relationships 
Chromocryptus probably is related to at least some of the stocks 
formerly included under Trachysphyrus (Porter 1967). It may be 
particularly close to the central Argentine Xiphidium group of Tra- 
chysphyrus (Porter 1967: 211-15). In both groups the 2nd gastric 
tergite has large, dense punctures and the base of the petiole shows 
an at least moderately well developed lateral flange or blunt tooth. 
The Xiphidium group differs from Chromocryptus in having the 
axillus vein far from the hind margin of its wing. Species of the 
Xiphidium group thus belong to Trachysphyrus, as most recently 
defined (Townes 1969: 181-3). However, displacement anteriad of 
the axillus vein (a derived feature in ichneumonids) probably has 
occurred independently several times within various evolutionary 
lines associated with Trachysphyrus. Further studies, consequently, 
might allow expansion of Chromocryptus to include those species 
currently grouped with Trachysphyrus xiphidium. 
Geographic Distribution and Ecology 
Chromocryptus ranges throughout most of the New World from 
the northeastern United States and California to Mexico, Peru, 
