1969] 
Evans — Cretaceous Wasps 
253 
Fig. 1. Archisphex crowsoni n. sp., type specimen (traced from a photo- 
graph). 
aculeate ; a venation of this type is not approximated by any Symphyta 
or Terebrantia, but is very close to what might be regarded as the 
“basic pattern” of venation for the Aculeata. The one unusual fea- 
ture, the curvature of the second recurrent vein to join the second 
submarginal cell, provides a major reason for placing it in the 
Sphecidae. However, unless the body is eventually found, it will 
never be possible to state unequivocally that it is a sphecid and not 
a very generalized scolioid, trigonalid, or representative of some 
extinct family of wasps. 
Evidence for eliminating Archisphex from other living families 
of wasps is as follows: The full complement of veins and cells 
makes it improbable that it belongs in the Bethyloidea or in such 
families as the Formicidae, Plumariidae, or Rhopalosomatidae ; the 
nearly erect, straight basal vein further eliminates these 1 three fami- 
lies and also (and especially) the Vespoidea. All Trigonalidae known 
to me have a more oblique basal vein as well as modifications of the 
submarginal cells, also a second recurrent vein which terminates in 
the third submarginal. I am not familiar with any Pompilidae or 
Apoidea in which the second recurrent curves basad to reach the 
second submarginal cell. Some Scolioidea have a venation very 
similar to this specimen, and in the males of Anthoboscinae and 
Thynninae the second recurrent vein does indeed often reach the 
second submarginal cell. However, in both these groups, as in most 
Scolioidea, there is an additional vein or crease beneath the stigma 
(regarded as i r), marking off a small apical part of the first sub- 
marginal cell. There is no evidence whatever of this vein in Arch- 
isphex, leaving the family Sphecidae as the most likely possibility. 
Within the Sphecidae there are fairly numerous genera having 
this basic venation. A. S. Menke has suggested that this fossil may 
