The back of the propodeum descends sharply from the tip of the shield to the articulation of the petiole. In the females, the spines on the outside of the front foot are usually seven in number. Miscus appears to be established solely on the basis of the presence of a petiolate third cubital cell.
AKT. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FEKNALD 11
It seems one of the ironies of fate that a name suggested under such circumstances as these, and most emphatically rejected by its author, being used only as an illustration, should assume an accepted position. If these characters were absolutely fixed, difficulty would be encountered in separating Podalonia and Sphex, but in some cases the spiracleis are found a little behind the middle of the plate in Podalonia, and there are degrees of crowding and in the thickness of the comb.
ART. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FEENALD 13 upward and slightly forward, is so nearly universal in Podalonia that
DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES PODALONIA VALIDA (Cresson)
Female.— Head: broad; clypeus greatly swollen in the middle; its surface is covered with coarse dots, although they are smaller and fewer near the middle; its anterior margin is rounded and has four broad teeth in the middle third, the outer one larger and twisted; vertex rather flat. Abdomen: the peduncle is usually black, sometimes partly iron or with an iron tint; level longer than hind coxa, its terminal extension below first ventral dorsal plate more or less ferruginous; first dorsal plate often shaded with black; the rest of the abdominal plates above and below are usually ferruginous, but in specimens from Texas, California (and elsewhere?) the last two segments and sometimes part of the next forward may be black, and the rest sometimes dark dull. Wings: Varies from hyaline to slightly whitish; costal veins dark, others rather light; tegulae black in front, more or less tinged with iron on lateral and posterior margins.
On the lower surface of the trochanter and femur there is a row of long hairs, and the coxal tooth is almost (although an uttle in front of it) in the Une of this row. This consisted of an incomplete second transverse cubital vein in the forewing of one side. The type grossa Cresson, also a female, collected by Heiligbrodt, is said to be in the United States National Museum, but the specimen here was marked Type.
The malegrossa of Melander and Brues was described on the basis of two specimens taken in Texas, one of which is now in the collection of Prof. Carter is located. The validam male is the same and he may not have been aware or thought so of Melander and Brues' work because he found no females in Alberta. with black on the belly this male cannot be grossa, but must be the male of valida - in which.
AKT. DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FERNALD 17 PODALONIA QUADRIDENTATA (Cameron^
Thorax: Prothorax quite smooth, the sides almost without oblique roughness in front of the pro-thoracic lobe; mesonotum minute, not narrowly pierced, shield with sparse, minute holes and weak longitudinal irregularities; postscutellum fine, transverse rugose; The propodeal disc is finely and evenly wrinkled, with the ridges running strongly backwards and outwards in the anterior part, but more so on the posterior half. Head: Clypeus extended some distance below the eyes and reflexed forward under a line joining the nearest points of the eyes; central half of lower margin transverse, slightly widening; the side edges are almost perpendicular to the central part; surface densely covered with silvery hairs; sides of the front that are similarly hairy extend upward toward the level of the anterior ocellus; a median depressed line from between the antennae to the anterior ocellus; antennae black or piquant at base, outwardly severe; mandibles black or pikeus. Thorax: Pro- and mesonotum rather thinly pierced, the sides of the former very faintly wrinkled in front of the prothoracic lobe;
ART. 9 GENEALOGICAL BEASTS OF THE GENE PODALONIA FERNALD 19 below; last two or three segments black above and belovr, extending below; the last two or three segments black above and belovr, the extent of the black varying somewhat; last ventral segment rounded posteriorly, with a broad central incision. I have seen eleven other females, all from Southern California (locality not given), ten of them in the American Entomological Society collection and one in my own collection. Types.—The holotype female, which I have studied, is in the collection of the Entomology Division of the University of Minnesota, St. Louis.
Two other males used in preparing the description and which can therefore be described as paratypes of the allotype, or parallotypes, are also in the collection of the American Entomological Society. Female. Head: Fairly broad; clypeus centrally swollen; the leading edge is slightly reflected except in the center; rather round on the outside; the surface is somewhat coarse, narrowly pierced and bears long, erect hairs; front in the same manner but more narrowly pierced, as are the vertices and cheeks; The landscape, stipe and first filament segment of the antennae are rather glossy, the former often faintly brownish underneath; the rest boring; The lower jaw is sometimes slightly peckish or maroon near the center.
ART. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FERNALD 23
In the collection of the United States National Museum is a pair of Podalonias, in which the female's neck is grasped by the male's mandibles, as in mating. The female is certainly luctuosa, while the male is violaceipennis, with several abdominal segments being bright iron-like. Many weeks of comparison have not produced any results in this direction, and the comparison of the male of the pair (even of the genitals) with the males of different pairs in which the female was undoubtedly violaceipennis also revealed no differences.
In a specimen of the left arm, a stump of vein from the middle of the second transverse cubital passes a short distance into the second cubital cell, and a similarly placed stump projects out from the third transverse cubital vein; the right arm is normal. In another example, the accessory vein starts over toward the base of the wing. Thorax: Prothorax very sparsely punctured, its sides in front of prothoracic lobe very rough; the upper part of the collar in front of the mesonotum is laterally rounded, but inclined towards the higher median part with a slight taper on each side rather than an even curve; mesonotum sparsely punctured, with distinct intermediate furrow; scutellae smooth anteriorly except for small punctures; shghtly rugose behind; postscutellum with a central, elongated oval area raised above the rest of the plate, which is convoluted in markings and dull;.
Legs: black, sometimes with a burning to brown tint; spines in the color of the leg segments to which they are attached; anterior tarsal ridge spines long, nearly equal in diameter from tip of base, other spines more slender and pointed; claws pale brown; pulvilli moderately developed. Clypeus and forehead, to the insertion of the antennae in the middle and deep up towards the apex of the eyes at the sides, densely silvery pubescent, the hairs forming this unusually fine and closely lying; anterior margin rather far below eyes, its outer third rounded, and its middle transverse very slightly rounded.
28 PROCEEDINGS OF TELE NATIONAL MUSEUM VOL. 71
At one time, several specimens had a printed "Type" label, and these should at least have the status of paratypes. This has been accepted as correct by several workers and has led to some degree of confusion between the two types. The words "abdominecoeruleo" are highly suggestive of female argentifrons, but I hesitate to declare mexicana an asynonym and leave it to someone who can see Saussure's specimens to settle that point.
The rental of these specimens made it possible. I prepare the above descriptions of the female and male from a. The second mentioned pair in the Academy's collection showed three specimens of this same species, two males and a female, and was marked: 'Tyramid Pk. In the female, a vein in the middle of the second transverse elbow enters the second elbow cell a short distance on both wings.
Thorax: Pronotum much less closely and coarsely punctured than frontal part; wrinkled in front of prothoracic lobe, which is almost smooth; mesonotum similarly punctate; with an obvious, median, indented line on its anterior half; scutellumpunctate and also slightly wrinkled; postscutellum with a rather high, transverse ridge in the middle;. Abdomen: peduncle slightly shorter to slightly longer than hind coxa and trochanter combined; part of the first abdominal dorsal plate and the petiolar extension below it, with the second segment.
ET. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FEENALD 33
Types.-Lepeletier's type violaceipennis was in the Serville collection and its locality is given as "Philadelphia." I was.
AKT. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FERNALD 35
36 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.71 The only conclusions I can reach about the attitude of these specs. Of the other two, the second has the plausibility of its labels affected by conflicting statements of locality, and I am i. The type, and at least some of the other specimens, are in the collection of the American Entomological Society where I.
It is undoubtedly the type, although the length measurements he gives show that he consulted other specimens. Itisanariregionmaleviolaceipennis, which is quite extreme, as even the long hairs on the front of the head are white. I failed to make the third segment of the antenna. first filament) one half longer than the fourth as stated by Cameron.
The third cubital cell has an unusual shape and is barrel-shaped, but I have seen specimens similar to this. The white hair, if this creates the narrow, lying hair on the face.
ART. 9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FERNALD 37 This very widely distributed insect has been perhaps the greatest
SPECIES OF UNCERTAIN POSITION PODALONIA JASON (Cameron)
9 CANTHARICAE GENUS PODALONIAE FERNALDI 37 Hoc insectum late diffusum verisimiliter maximum fuit. Augmentum in AGROMexicano; in Cordilleras orientalibus (Cordoba, Sangolica) etetiamin campis altioribus et frigidioribus (Teshuitlan, et valle urbis Mex- ico) plurima specimina accepi".
The description reads: "The long, silvery-white hair is long, moderately dense and almost evenly distributed." In other respects too, this insect does not agree with the description and I believe that its label has somehow ended up on the wrong specimen. I did not see an insect anywhere in the collection that seemed to fit the description of this species.
ABT.9 DIGGER WASPS OF GENUS PODALONIA FERNALD 39 PODALONIA PICEIVENTRIS (Cameron)
EXPLANATION OF PLATES
S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
Forewing of Podalonia with cell names as used in this paper a-anal; ab - an aberrant vein stump very often present; api-. Posterior wing of Podalonia with cell names as used in this paper, a-anal; c-costal; cubital; di-first discoid; ^ 2 - second dis-.
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