1929 ] 
A New Pseudomasaris from California 
79 
Ceramius. — Fonscolombe (1835, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 
IV, p. 421), in southern France, observed a female of C. 
fonscolombei Latreille entering a gallery burrowed in the 
soil and provided at the entrance with a chimney of mud. 
In South Africa, according to H. Brauns (1911, Zeitschr. 
Wiss. Insektenbiol., VI, pp. 387 and 445-446), C. beyeri 
Brauns, C. lichtensteini (Klug) and its var. macrocephalus 
H. de Saussure, likewise nest in the soil, building an erect 
or curved, free chimney of mud at the entrance. In C. lich- 
tensteini , the female excavates a chamber at the end of the 
gallery, sometimes at a depth of four to five feet; here she 
masons oval cells of mud, in which she feeds the larvae from 
day to day with flower nectar. 
Paraceramius. — J. Giraud (1871, Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 
(5) I, pp. 375-379) has given a good account of the habits 
of P. lusitanicus (Klug), of which he observed a populous 
colony in southern France. The nest is similar to that of C. 
fonscolombei and likewise provided with a chimney at the 
entrance. At the end of the subterranean gallery the female 
masons a mud cell in which she feeds the larva from day to 
day with a mixture of pollen and nectar. C. Ferton (1901, 
Ann. Soc. Ent. France, LXX, pp. 137-139) completed these 
observations. He noted that the egg was laid in the bottom 
of the cell before the first load of honeypaste was brought in 
and that it was not attached to the wall by a thread. It 
would seem that he too observed progressive provisioning, 
although he is not explicit about this point. 
Ceramioides. — The nesting habits have been observed in 
South Africa by H. Brauns (1911, Op. cit.) for C. schul- 
thessi (Brauns), C. linearis (Klug) (=C. fumipennis 
Brauns), C. bicolor (Thunberg) ( =C . karrooensis Brauns) 
and C. capicola (Brauns). They do not differ from those of 
Ceramius lichtensteini. The entrance to the nest may be 
protected either by a free chimney, erect or curved, or by a 
tunnel built on the ground. 
Pseudomasaris. — Ashmead first mentioned breeding P. 
vespoides from a free mudnest (1902, Canad. Entom., 
XXXIV, p. 219). A. Davidson (1913, Bull. S. California Ac. 
