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Psyche 
[Vol. 95 
Fig. 7. Hypothetical cross-section through an expanding nest, edge view, per- 
pendicular to row of pedicels. 7a: LB = leaf blade, P = pedicel, SI = primary side 
of comb. 7b: S2 = secondary side of comb, CP = central plate axis, with central 
row of downward cells. 7c: SS = substrate sheet. 
directly away from the substrate. Shining bright light through nest 
reveals between younger rows (but perhaps not between older cells) 
a central plate perpendicular to substrate, roughly coplanar with 
line of pedicels, dividing the nest into halves and supporting on its 
lower edge the row of five downward pointing cells. 
Remarks: Unusual architecture involving unconvential comb 
design and multiple pedicels upon a leaf rib is known for other 
Mischocyttarus, such as insolitus Zikan or latissimus Richards 
(Herre et al., 1986, JWW unpubl. data). The nest of pelor is most 
similar to that of the closely related fraudulentus, which builds on a 
leaf midrib. One fraudulentus specimen (BMNH #279) on an arum 
leaf has four short (2 mm) pedicels supporting 13 cells (one missing) 
which are parallel to the leaf blade and fused to form a continuous 
horizontal row (Fig. 9). A fifth pedicel (broken) supports six cells in 
a regular hexagonal array, separated from the row. All cells point to 
the same side of the rib, many bearing acute longitudinal ridges. The 
nest has three intact long cells; one of 10 mm is capped by the 1 mm 
dome of a cocoon. Unlike M. pelor, the carton is thoroughly rein- 
forced with clear secretion forming irregular transparent windows 
as large as 1 mm 2 , and there is no sign of a substrate sheet of paper. 
The specimen in the Museum of Natural History of the University 
of Georgia is similar. Separated by 13, 12 and 9 mm are four pedi- 
cels 2 mm long on the rib of a leaf and supporting 22 shallow (2-3 
mm) cells (one broken), arranged very like the British Museum 
specimen in one or two rows and all pointing to the same side of the 
rib. The remnant of a fifth pedicel 9 mm from the last marks either 
an incipient pedicel or a broken and missing section of the nest. Like 
