dcsimg

Comprehensive Description

provided by Memoirs of the American Entomological Society
Sericopompilus neotropicalis (Cameron)
Pompilus neotropicalis Cameron, 1893, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Hymen. II, p. 203
[Type: 2, Guatemala: San Geronimo (GCC) (BMNH, no. 19,
561)]. Pompilus guatemalensis Cameron, 1893, ibid., p. 206 [Type: S, Guatemala:
San Geronimo (GCC) (BMNH, no. 19, 562)]. Synonymy by Evans, Psammochares posticatus Banks, 1910, Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc., 18: 119 [Type:
S, Texas: Lee Co., 2 Oct. 1950 (G. Birkman) (MCZ, no. 13, 709)].
Synonymy by Evans, 1950. Psammochares fuscipennis var. georgiana Banks, 1911, Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash.,
13: 238 [Type: 9, Georgia: Bainbridge, 17 Sept.-19 Oct. 1910
(J. C. Bradley) (MCZ, no. 13, 711)]. Synonymy by Evans, 1950. Sericopompilus posticatus Banks, 1912, Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc, 19: 229. Psammochares neotropicalis Banks, 1931, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc, 26: 133
(Yucatan). Sericopompilus neotropicalis Evans, 1950, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 75: 210-
213. — Krombein, 1958, U. S. Dept. Agri. Monogr. 2, First Suppl.,
p. 181.
The type of neotropicalis is in excellent condition and conforms to the usual concept of this species. As in other females from the southern parts of the range, the pronotum of the type has a wide yellowish band on the posterior margin and the legs are almost entirely rufous. Most females from the United States lack any band at all on the pronotum and have only the hind legs rufous. There appears to be an irregular north-south cline in the extent of yellow and rufous coloration.
Female. — Length 10-17 mm. Black; abdomen wholly rufous, hind legs rufous except coxae, middle and front legs partly or wholly rufous beyond coxae in specimens from southern parts of the range; inner and outer orbits with small yellowish streaks; collar usually marked with pale yellow, posterior margin of pronotum usually with a pale yellowish stripe; wings wholly infuscated, hind wings rather lightly so basally. Clypeus 2.2-2.4 X as broad as
# Sencopompilus neotropicalis (Cameron)
(also transcontinental in southern U.S
high, apical margin rounded on the sides, truncate medially. MID .60-.65 X TFD; UID .70-.80 X LID; antennal segment three .90-1.20 X UID. POL: OOL = 3:2. Front basitarsus with three or four comb-spines, the apical one usually .4 to .5 as long as the second tarsal segment.
Male. — Length 7.5-12 mm. Black; second and third abdominal segments and apex of first usually rufous, parts of legs sometimes suffused with rufous; inner and outer orbits with small pale yellow streaks, collar and broad band along posterior margin of pronotum pale yellow, also base of front wings and sides of propodeal rim maculated, legs marked with pale yellow as in the preceding species. Wings clear hyaline, tips of hind wings usually fuscous, tips of fore wings fuscous beyond stigma, usually with a paler, crescentic streak within this fuscous band. MID .60-.66 X TFD; UID .82-.92 X LID; antennal segment three 2.1-2.3 X as long as thick. Ocelli somewhat larger than normal, POL: OOL about 4:3.
Distribution. — In the United States, this species ranges north to Central California, Kansas, Illinois, and North Carolina, but is more common along the southern tier of states. From Mexico south to Costa Rica the species is very widely distributed but is absent at elevations above about 6000 feet. (Map 33.)
Mexican and Central American specimens examined. — 73 9 5, 95 8 8. Tamaulipas: 1 2 , Villagran, 7 June 1951 (PDH) [CIS]. Coahuila: 1 2, 12 mi. N Hermanas, 11 Aug. 1959 (AM & LS) [UCD]; 1 8, 13 mi. N Saltillo, 11 Aug. 1959 (AM & LS) [UCD]. Chihuahua: 1 2, 13 mi. S Ciudad Juarez, 18 Aug. 1952 (EG) [CIS]; 1 2, Moctezuma, 4 July 1954 (EIS) [CIS]; 2 2 2,3 8 8, Santa Clara Canyon, 5 mi. W Parrita, 6 July 1954 (JWM) [CIS]; 1 2,1 8, 8 mi. S Ciudad Camargo, 10 Aug. 1951 (PDH) [CIS]. Sonora: 2 2 2,3 8 8 , 10 mi. E Navajoa, 13 Aug. 1959 (Werner & Nutting) [UA, MCZ]. Baja California: 1 2 , 17 mi. SE Mexican, 15 June 1952 (MC) [AMNH]; 1 2 , 23 mi. SE Mezquital, 26 Aug. 1959 (Radford & Werner) [CAS]; 1 2,1 8 , La Paz, 10 Oct. 1954 (FXW) [CAS]. Sinaloa: 1 8, Culiacan, 21 July 1959 (HEE) [MCZ]; 1 8, Mazatlan, 15 Aug. 1962 (HEE) [MCZ]. Durango: 2 2 2,1 8 , 8 mi. S Canutillo, 9 Aug. 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]; 3 2 2 , 7 $ 8 , San Juan del Rio, 7 Aug. 1951 (HEE & PDH) [MCZ, CIS]; 23 8 8 , 14 mi. NW Ceballos, 10 Sept. 1963 (HAS) [OSU, MCZ]. San Luis Potosi: 1 2 , El Salto, 1800 feet, 8 June 1961 [KU]. Nayarit: 1 2, Ahuacatlan, 18 July 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]. Jalisco: 2 2 2 , 8 mi. S Guadalajara, Sept. 1954 (FXW) [CAS]; 1 8, Guadalajara, 14 July 1959, 5000 feet (HEE) [MCZ]. Guerrero: 1 2 , Acapulco [MCZ]; 2 2 2, Mexcala, 29 June 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]; 1 2, Tierra Colorada, 2000 feet, Oct. (HHS) [BMNH]; 2 2 2, Venta de Zopilote, 2800 feet, June (HHS) [BMNH]; 1 2, Chilpancingo, 4600 feet, June (HHS) [BMNH]. Morelos: 1 2, Cuernavaca, 19 July 1961 (RRD) [MSU]; 1 2, Xochicalco, 13 July 1961 (RRD) [MSU]; 1 2 , Huajintlan, 22 Aug. 1956 (RRD) [MSU]; 10 2 2,4 8 8, Alpuyeca, May, July (PDH, HEE) [CIS, MCZ, CU]; 1 9,2 8 8 , Canyon de Lobos, nr. Yautepec, 4000 feet, 25 May 1959 (HEE) [CU]. Puebla: 2 2 2, Petlalcingo, Aug. 1963 (FDP) [UCD]. Veracruz: 1 2, Tecolutla, 19 June 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]; 13 2 2 , 40 8 8, Veracruz, June-Aug. (HEE, PDH, RRD, RHP) [MCZ, CU, MSU, CIS, UCD]; 1 2,1 8 , Minatitlan, 16 Aug. 1961 (RRD) [MSU]. Oaxaca: 1 2 , 5 mi. N Rio Hondo, 10 Aug. 1957 (Chemsak & Rannells) [CIS]; 2 2 2, 12 mi. S Chivela, 18 Aug. 1959 (LS & AM) [UCD]; 1 8 , 64 mi. W Tehuantepec, 21 July 1952 (EG & CM) [CIS]; 1 2 , 44 mi. W Tehuantepec, 21 July 1952 (EG & CM) [CIS]; 1 2 , 8 mi. W Tehuantepec, 400 feet, 10 July 1953 [KU]; 1 2 , 21 mi. E El Camaron, 21 July 1956 (JWM) [CIS]. Yucatan: 1 2,1 8 , Chichen Itza, June, July (JB,
HEE) [MCZ]. Chiapas: 1 2,1 $ , 20 mi. S Tuxtla Gutierrez, 12 Aug. 1963 (FDP) [UCD]. Guatemala: 2 2 2,1 s , San Geronimo (GCC) [BMNH]; 1 2, Tiucal, 20 Aug. 1961 (M. Irwin) [UCD]. El Salvador: 1 $ , Quezaltepeque, 1 July 1963 (M. Irwin) [UCD]. Costa Rica: 3 2 2, Liberia & vie., 26-29 July 1963 (HAS) Variation. — As mentioned earlier, females from the southern parts of the range tend to have a broad yellowish band on the pronotum (often wholly absent in U. S. specimens) and to have the legs almost wholly rufous. The thre2 Costa Rica females are unusual in having the wings lightly infuscated, the fore wing indistinctly twicebanded with darker fuscous.
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bibliographic citation
Evans, H.E. 1966. A Revision of the Mexican and Central American Spider Wasps of the Subfamily Pompilinae (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Society vol. 20. Philadelphia, USA