86 
Psyche 
[June 
often erratic. Thus in the South African Karroo two or more 
years may pass without rain. As H. Brauns has shown 
(1911, Op. cit., p. 446), the larvae of Ceramius have the 
faculty of remaining in their underground cells without 
pupating throughout these long dry spells. In moister years, 
however, the adults are ready to hatch in early spring. As 
there are many arid parts of Central Asia, Arabia, the Sa- 
hara, and South America that have never been visited at 
the proper season by an entomologist, it is safe to prophesy 
that several species and perhaps even genera of masarids 
remain to be discovered. It is doubtful, however, whether 
future finds will materially alter the discontinuous distribu- 
tion of the group, as known as present. 
The Masaridinse as an Archaic Group 
It has been sometimes assumed that the masarid wasps 
are an archaic, or primitive, group of Vespidse, but, so far 
as I know, no definite arguments have been brought forward 
in support of this opinion. I believe that this view, although 
correct in some respects, ought to be qualified, as I shall at- 
tempt to show presently. 
The detailed discussion of the morphology of these 
wasps, given above, makes it clear, I think, that in almost 
every character of phylogenetic importance the Masaridinse 
are either not more primitive than most other subfamilies 
of Vespidse, or have retained primitive conditions in cer- 
tain genera while being highly specialized in others. The 
most striking features of the masarid wing, viz., the pre- 
sence of only two closed cubital cells in the fore wing and 
the apparent lack of a discoidal vein in the hind wing, are 
evident specializations. As for the plaiting of the fore wing, 
it is indicated in certain species and it is as clearly marked 
in Celonites and Quartinia as in Vespa. The highly modified 
mouth-parts likewise preclude the possibility that the pre- 
sent-day Masaridinse are anything like the ancestral stock 
of all the Diploptera. As a matter of fact the Gayellinae and 
Euparagiinse are in many features more primitive than the 
Masaridinse, since they still have unplaited fore wings with 
three closed cubital cells, the second and third each receiving 
