238 
Psyche 
[Vol. 95 
as well as the BMNH paratypes from “N. W. Patagonia.” Willink 
and Ajmat de Toledo (1979) also mention a Mendoza record. 
Gayella luispenai Willink and Ajmat de Toledo 
G. luispenai Willink and Ajmat de Toledo, 1979: 427, 428, 429, figs. 
1, 6, 7, 52 (type $ IML) — “Riconada, Jujuy, Argentina.” 
I have seen two specimens, a male from Jujuy, Est. Iturbe 17-1- 
1979 (L. Fidalgo) and a female from Mendoza, Uspallata 5. XII. 1979 
(A. Roig). This species was also recorded from Bolivia: Potosi by 
Willink and Ajmat de Toledo (1979). 
This species is very similar to patagonica, as noted by Willink and 
Ajmat de Toledo (1979:430). Most of the characters they cite will 
not distinguish females. The series of patagonica I have seen from 
Rio Negro (MF) overlaps in size, length of the malar space and 
development of protuberances on female metasomal sternum II. 
The punctation tends to be less coarse on the scutellum of pata- 
gonica, but this varies among the specimens. The propodeal median 
groove will separate them (Figs. 45, 55), but as I have seen only one 
female of luispenai, I cannot be certain that this feature does not 
vary. Males are readily distinguished by the sternal projections in 
luispenai (Fig. 54). 
Biogeography 
It is clear from the few records for some species that their distribu- 
tions are very poorly known, and further collecting, particularly of 
Paramasaris, will doubtless extend the ranges of some of these. 
Nevertheless, a few remarks about biogeography may be made. 
Paramasaris and Gayella occupy completely different regions, Trop- 
ical American versus Patagonia, which corresponds to a well-known 
vicariant break. Within Gayella, most of the species overlap broadly 
in distribution. The clade mutilloides + patagonica + luispenai is 
the only group which occurs on the eastern side of the Cordillera, 
but the first two species are also found in Chile. By contrast, Para- 
masaris shows a pattern of endemism. Within the genus, the distri- 
bution of the sister-species fuscipennis and cupreus is basically 
trans-Andean: Central America versus western Amazonia. There is 
a record of cupreus from the western side of the Sierra de Perija, but 
this was elevated in the late Oligocene (Kellogg, 1984). In turn, the 
sister-group of this clade, brasiliensis, is southeastern Brazil, and the 
sister-group of all three species, richardsi, is southern Amazon 
