1976] 
Callan — Gorytine Wasps in Trinidad 
331 
One cell was provisioned with 4 adult fulgoroid bugs and a single 
adult treehopper (Membracidae). The second cell contained 5 
adult fulgoroid bugs. The prey was completely paralyzed, but 
capable of slight twitching movement of the legs on stimulation. 
A large egg about 1.0 mm long was attached for its full length 
ventrally at the base of the legs of one of the prey. On 31 August 
1949 1 visited the Maracas Valley again and took several females, 
one of which was carrying an adult fulgoroid bug with its ventral 
side up held below the body by the wasp’s middle legs. The nest 
was not found and presumably the entrance is kept closed when 
the wasp is away. 
On 16 September 1949 another nesting site was found in a sandy 
bank near the previous one in the Maracas Valley. A wasp was 
seen leaving its nest, which was dug out, and 3 cells, each con- 
taining a cocoon, were unearthed. As the sand crumbled readily, 
it is possible that they belonged to more than one nest, but this 
is unlikely. Attached to the cocoons by strands of fungus mycelium 
were the wings, eaten-out head capsules, parts of the legs, and 
other remains of the homopterous prey. The cocoons were ovoid, 
pale brown, hard and smooth, rounded at the anterior and more 
pointed at the posterior end, which was drawn out into a nipple- 
like protuberance like the distal end of a lemon. They varied in 
length from 9 to 10 mm and in width from 4 to 4.5 mm. No pores 
were present in the walls of the cocoons. Three female wasps 
emerged from the cocoons by biting off a cap at the anterior end 
leaving a rough edge. 
S. brasiliensis provisions its nest almost exclusively with Ful~ 
goroidea of various families except for a single treehopper (Mem- 
bracidae), most of the prey ranging in size from about 4 to 8 mm 
(Table 1). Nests are multicellular and several prey, both adults 
and nymphs, are stored in each cell. The achilid Koloptera cal- 
losa was described from Panama and recorded by Fennah (1945) 
from Trinidad. The issid Thionia mammifera , and the flatids 
Epormenis fuliginosa and Euhvloptera corticalis were described 
from Trinidad (Fennah, 1945 ). E. fuliginosa is known only from 
the island, where it occurs commonly with related species as a 
minor pest on cacao and coffee (Coffea arabica L.). The smiliine 
treehopper Ceresa vitulus is a wide-ranging, greenish, cryptic 
solitary membracid, about 5 mm long, with the pronotum bearing 
2 sharp humeral spines. In Trinidad it is often found on cacao 
and many other plants. 
