Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Transactions of the American Entomological Society
Volume
51
Publication Date
7-2-1925
First Page
57
Last Page
117
Abstract
The genus Ancistrocerus is one of the most difficult of all folded-winged wasps so far as the discrimination of species is concerned. The European forms were clearly defined at a rather recent period by C. G. Thomson, in 1874. In North American collections, the specimens are usually left undetermined or the few names occasionally given are not reliable. The species included in H. de Saussure's Synopsis of American Wasps (1875) may nearly all be recognized after a careful study of the excellent descriptions. The author evidently disposed of a small collection (probably not over 200 specimens from the eastern United States), so that in so difficult a group one can but marvel at his taxonomic acumen. Unfortunately his keys are almost totally based upon color and, in addition, contain some manifest errors: they must have deterred many a beginner. Most of the later work has consisted of disconnected descriptions of supposedly new species. Outstanding among them, for their number as well as for their poor quality, are those contributed by P. Cameron, which for many years to come will remain a stumbling-block in the study of the western forms. C. Robertson's paper of 1901, on the other hand, is a contribution of real value, calling attention to a number of structural peculiarities which are of considerable help in the separation of closely allied species. His descriptions are models of the kind.
Recommended Citation
Bequaert, Joseph, "The Genus Ancistrocerus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in North America, with a partial key to the species" (1925). Ba. Paper 267.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/bee_lab_ba/267