1969] 
Evans — Cretaceous Wasps 
259 
the true cuckoo wasps (Chrysidinae) . It is unlikely that Procleptes 
was a “cuckoo” in behavior, not only because of its greater resem- 
blance to Cleptinae and Amiseginae but because aculeate hosts must 
have been relatively scarce in the Cretaceous. Species of Cleptes 
have been reared from the larvae of sawflies, which may have been 
plentiful in the Cretaceous, since their fossil record extends back 
to the Triassic. Amiseginae are parasites of the eggs of walking 
sticks. I would assume that Procleptes was a parasitoid, and I 
suggest sawflies as probable hosts, although orthopteroids or indeed 
many other groups of insects cannot be ruled out as possibilities. 
Procleptes carpenteri, new species 
Length of body about 3.2 mm; wings apparently fully developed 
(although broken off near the base in this specimen). Head and 
thorax with a distinct blue-green cast, the integument apparently 
moderately thick and rather strongly punctate, the pronotum longi- 
tudinally striatopunctate ; legs and abdomen black, non-metallic ; 
body and legs covered with short, whitish hair; other details as 
figured. 
Specimen in a small block of amber from Cedar Lake, Manitoba 
(Upper Cretaceous), collected by F. M. Carpenter. MCZ no. 
1234. 
Discussion 
It comes as a considerable surprise to find such specialized wasps 
in the Cretaceous. The remarkable tubular development of the 
apical half of the abdomen of Procleptes is quite like that of modern 
species, and the unusual and much reduced wing venation of 
Lisponema is very comparable to that of some of the more specialized 
living Pemphredoninae. Discovery of quite a typical wing of a wasp 
from the lowest part of the Cretaceous, however, makes it seem 
less surprising to find specialized forms in the upper part of that 
period. The Cretaceous was, after all, a very long period, com- 
parable in length to the entire Tertiary. 
I believe that the small size of all three of these wasps is an 
accident of preservation rather than an indication that all the original 
Aculeata were small. Dr. R. A. Crowson tells me 'that the Wadhurst 
Clays in which Archisphex was found contain mostly small insects 
and fragments of larger ones; and a small piece of the wing of a 
large wasp might not be recognizable as such. The bits of amber 
from Cedar Lake, Manitoba, are all quite small and only very 
small insects have been preserved in them. The Cretaceous ant 
