BIOLOGICAL NOTES ON TWO SPECIES OF 
SERICOPHORUS FROM AUSTRALIA 
(HYMENOPTERA: SPHECIDAE) 
By Robert W. Matthews and Howard E. Evans 1 
Sericophorus is a genus of robust, often iridescent bee-like wasps 
belonging to the larrine tribe Miscophini. The genus is endemic to 
Australia and Tasmania and possibly extends into New Guinea, 
where one male has been taken (A. S. Menke, pers. comm .). Riek 
(1970) reports 14 species from Australia. Males are unusual in 
that the antennae typically consist of only 12 segments instead of 
the 13 found in most male sphecid wasps. 
The only previous biological observations on members of this 
genus are those by Rayment (1955a, b). His papers include mis- 
cellaneous notes on at least six species occurring in Victoria, Western 
Australia, and New South Wales, and present the main behavioral 
features of the genus. Unfortunately, the rambling conversational 
style adopted by Rayment makes it difficult to sort out the facts 
in his reports, and indeed, it is often unclear as to which species his 
discussions refer. Numerous fragmentary observations, such as the 
occurrence of two adults in the same nest of S. sydneyi Rayment 
( 1955b, pp. 75-76) and S. victoriensis Rayment (1955a, p. 137, 
presumed subterranean mating in S. viridis roddi Rayment (1955b, 
p. 74), and apparent territoriality in S. sydneyi females (1955b, 
p. 75) were not confirmed in the present very incomplete studies. 
We did, however, confirm two unusual behavior patterns reported 
by Rayment: hunting in the early morning hours and capture of 
only male flies. Rayment found this to be true in S. teliferopodus 
Rayment, and we found it to be the case in S. viridis Saussure. 
Our observations concern two forms not previously studied, S. 
viridis Saussure and S. relucens Smith. Included also is the first 
detailed larval description for the genus, and notes on a parasitic 
nyssonine wasp, Acanthostethus portlandensis (Rayment). 
Sericophorus viridis Saussure 
With one exception, all of our notes on S. viridis were made on 
Respectively, Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, 
Georgia 30601, and Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138. Research supported by the National 
Science Foundation, U. S. A., Grant No. GB 8746. 
Manuscript received by the editor March 10, 1971. 
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