A REVIEW OF NESTING BEHAVIOR IN THE 
GENUS ENTOMOGN A THUS, WITH NOTES ON 
E. MEMORIALS BANKS 
(HYMENOPTERA: SPHECIDAE) 
By Richard C. Miller and Frank E. Kurczewski 1 
The genus Entomognathus contains at least 40 species, half in 
the Ethiopian and in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Oriental, and Neo- 
tropical regions (Leclercq, 1954, 1 955 , 1961, 1963; Nouvel and 
Ribaut, 1956; Krombein, 1963). Relatively little is known about 
the nesting behaviors, host preferences, or life histories of members 
of this genus. Only the Palaearctic E. ( Entomognathus ) brevis van 
der Linden has been studied in any detail, and almost nothing is 
known about the four U. S. species belonging to the subgenus 
Toncahua. One of the purposes of the present paper is, therefore, 
to amalgamate information on the host preferences, nesting behaviors, 
life histories, and immature stages of the species of Entomognathus , 
based upon a review of the world literature. The major portion of 
this paper details the components of the nesting behavior of E. ( Ton- 
cahua) memorialis Banks, describes the mature larva and cocoon, 
and compares this species and related crabronine and larrine wasps 
in nesting ethology and larval and cocoon morphology. The adult 
wasps and prey beetles have been placed in the S. U. N. Y. College 
of Forestry Insect Museum, and the mature larva has been deposited 
in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. 
Entomognathus { Mashona ) mimicus Arnold 
One female from Bekily, Madagascar was observed by Arnold 
(1944) preying upon a small chrysomelid beetle. 
Entomognathus {Mashona) patricius Arnold 
Arnold (1932) reported several females nesting in a clay bank 
beside a stream in Bulawayo, S. Rhodesia. The wasps were preying 
upon a species near Ootheca modesta Gahan (Chrysomelidae : Gale- 
rucinae) . 
Entomognathus {Entomognathus) brevis v. d. Lind. 
This widely distributed Palaearctic species has been reported to 
nest in sand, gravel, clay, and chalky-loam, and to burrow in hori- 
^epartment of Forest Entomology, State University College of Forestry, 
Syracuse, New York 13210 . 
Manuscript received by the editor July 5, 1972. 
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