6 
Psyche 
[March 
Since the case of C. argentinicus is best documented, I will discuss 
it first and at greatest length. Charles C. Porter collected the first 
known female of this species at Horco Molle, Argentina, and the 
Townes took a second female at this same locality. This is a locality 
in which a very similarly colored Priocnemioides , P. unifasciatus 
luteicornis (Lepeletier) is common and in which other orange-winged 
species of Chiro damns, Priocnemioides , and other genera occur. As 
mentioned earlier, this is a very common Mullerian mimetic pattern, 
with members occurring all the way from the western half of the 
United States to central Argentina and Chile. It includes pompilids 
of other tribes and subfamilies (e.g., Notocyphus, Ahemessia) as well 
as an assortment of Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera. 
In this instance, the resemblance of the female C. argentinicus to 
that of P. unifasciatus luteicornis is especially close; they are similar 
in size and in all details of coloration of the body, wings and an- 
tennae (Figs, io, 13). It seems probable that luteicornis is the major 
model in this area. 
Charles Porter collected males flying in the vegetation along with 
several species of Ichneumonidae which resemble it closely. Certain 
of these are species which produce an odor unpleasant to humans and 
presumably serving in defense against avian predators (e.g., Ephialtes 
bazani , Fig. 8). In other localities this same color pattern was re- 
peated but included other Hymenoptera. For example, at Alto la 
Vina, in Jujuy, it was found to include the pompilid Poecilopompilus 
polistoides (Fig. 3), a species of the sphecid genus Cerceris (Fig. 1), 
and the social wasp Mischocyttarus alfkenii zikanii Richards (Fig. 
2). Certain species of social wasps of the genera Polybia and Stelo- 
polybia also share essentially this same color pattern, as do certain 
Diptera, day-flying moths, and even leafhoppers. It is impossible 
to define this mimetic complex fully at this time or to list with cer- 
tainty its components in any given area. The following list includes 
species taken by Porter in localities in northwestern Argentina in 
fundamentally similar habitats and sufficiently alike to deceive a hu- 
man collector. 
VESPIDAE 
Mischocyttarus alfkenii zikanii Richards (Fig. 2) 
POMPILIDAE 
Poecilopo?npilus polistoides Smith (Fig. 3) 
Chirodamus argentinicus Banks (males only) (Fig. 9) 
SPHECIDAE 
Cerceris sp. (Fig. 1) 
