Pompilus scelestus Cresson 1865

Transcont. in Transit. and U. Austral Zones, southern Canada to Calif. and Ga., s. in Mexico at higher altitudes to Guerrero and Oaxaca.

Occurs in open woods and on sand dunes; nests in light soil or sand.

Pompilus (Arachnospila) scelestus Cresson
Pompilus scelestus Cresson, 1865, Proc. Ent. Soc. I'liilu . 4: 451 [Lectotype: 2, Colorado (ANSP, no. 415)]. — Cresson, 1867, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 1: 88.
Pompilus montezuma Cameron, 1893, Biol. Centr.-Amer., Hymen. II, p. 193, pi. 11, fig. 10 [$ only; 2 (which I consider the type) misassociated (see Episyron biguttatus montezuma)].
Pompilus pulchrinellus Cameron, 1893, ibid., p. 194, pi. 11, fig. 12 & 12a [Type: 2, Mexico: Sonora: No. part (Morrison) (BMNH, no. 19, 693)]. New synonym.
Pompilus omiltemensis Cameron, 1893, ibid., p. 197, pi. 11, Fig. 18 & 18a [Type: S, Mexico: Guerrero: Omilteme, 8000 feet, Aug. (HHS) (BMNH, no. 19, 687)]. New synonym.
Psammochares astur Banks, 1912, Jour. N. Y. Ent. Soc, 19: 225 [Type: 2, Maryland: Great Falls, 12 July (NB) (MCZ, no. 13, 688)]. Synonymy by Evans, 1951.
Psammochares sublaevis Banks, 1921, Ann. Ent. Soc. Amer., 14: 20 [Type: 2, Indiana: Marion Co. (H. Morrison) (MCZ, no. 13, 693)]. Synonymy by Evans, 1951.
Pycnopompilus subscelestus Dreisbach, 1950, Amer. Midi. Nat., 43: 591-593 [Type: $, Colorado: Ute Creek, 30 July (R. W. Dawson) (Univ. Nebraska)]. Synonymy by Evans, 1951.
Pompilus (Arachnospila) scelestus Evans, 1951, U. S. Dept. Agri., Monogr. 2, p. 935. — Evans, 1951, Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, 77: 261-265.
This is a widely distributed and variable species, as the long synonymy suggests. Cameron misassociated the sexes of both montezuma and omiltemensis. In the latter case, it is obvious that the male should be considered the type, since the figures and also the species name fit the male but not the female; the female, from Panama, belongs to Anoplius (Anoplius) simulans (Cresson), and is listed under that species. The male omiltemensis is a small but otherwise typical scelestus, actually part of the same series which includes the male montezuma. In the case of montezuma, however, it is clear that Cameron's figure is that of the female, from Chilpancingo, which is an Episyron. Also, Cameron provides only a very short description of the male, while his description of the female is much longer and his alignment of the species, based on the anal vein of the hind wing, fits the female but not the male. Thus the name montezuma is here referred to Episyron.
Female. — Length 6.5-20 mm. Black; pubescence wholly dark, rather strongly reflecting bluish; wings fuscous, violaceous, slightly darker along the outer margin. Scape with at least a few setae below; head and thorax with abundant dark setae, including the coxae and often to some extent the femora. Clypeus 2.6-3.0 X as wide as high, its apical margin weakly concave medially. Front broad, MID .59-.63 X TFD; UID Z75-.85 X LID. Front angle of ocellar triangle a right angle or somewhat greater, POL:OOL about as 4:5. Third antennal segment equal to from .75 to 1.0 X UID. Front basitarsus with three or (more commonly) four strong comb-spines.
Male. — Length 6-16 mm. Black, except upper outer and middle inner orbits usually with a small pale spot or streak; pubescence fuscous, reflecting bluish, sometimes silvery on the front; wings as in female. MID .60-. 63 X TFD; UID about .9 X LID; ocelli about as in female. SGP with a high median keel which in profile is rather evenly, convexly arcuate, or the posterior slope may be nearly straight. Genitalia with the parameres much broadened toward the apex, which is subtruncate; digiti strongly capitate, densely setose (see fig. 190 in Evans, 1951).
Distribution. — Transcontinental in southern Canada, south to Georgia, Oaxaca, and California. Mexican records are from altitudes of from 5000 to 8500 feet. (Map 72.)
Mexican specimens examined. — 10 52,15 8 8. Sonora: 1 9 , No. part (Morrison) [BMNH]. Chihuahua: 1 9 , Arroyo Mesteno, Sierra del Nido, 7600 feet, 21 July 1959 (W. C. Russell) [CIS]. Michoacan: 1 9 , 4 mi. E Morelia, 6500 feet, 9 July 1959 (HEE) [CU]; 1 8 , 11 mi. E Tuxpan, 13 Aug. 1957 (Chemsak & Rannells) [CIS]. Mexico: 1 9,1 8 , 34 km. W Toluca, 8500 feet, 9 Aug. 1962 (HEE) [MCZ]; 1 9, Teotihuacan Pyramids, 6 July 1951 (HEE) [MCZ]. Hidalgo: 1 9 , 5 mi. N Tizayuca, 13 Sept. 1946 (Ross & Skinner) [CAS]. Veracruz: 2 8 8 , 5 mi. E Acultzingo, 5000 feet, 9 June 1959 (HEE) [CU, MCZ]. Morelos: 3 8 8,4 mi. NW Cuernavaca, 7500 feet, 12 May 1959 (HEE) [CU, MCZ]: 1 9 , 3 mi. N Cuernavaca, 7500 feet, 14 Mch. 1959 (HEE) [MCZ]; 1 8 , Cuernavaca, 29 July 1961 (RRD) [MSU]. Guerrero: 2 9 9, 18 8, Omilteme, 8000 feet, Aug. (HHS) [BMNH]. Oaxaca: 1 9 , Oaxaca [BMNH].