A Review of Nesting Behavior in the Genus Entomognathus, With Notes on E. Memorialis Banks (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

The genus Entomognathus contains at least 4o species, half inthe Ethiopian and in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Oriental, and Neotropicalregions (Leclercq, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1963; Nouvel andRibaut, 1956; Krombein, 1963). Relatively little is known aboutthe nesting behaviors, host preferences, or life histories of membersof this genus. Only the Palaearctic E. (Entomognathus) brevis vander Linden has been studied in any detail, and almost nothing isknown about the four U. S. species belonging to the subgenusToncahua One of the purposes of the present paper is, therefore,to amalgamate information on the host preferences, nesting behaviors,life histories, and immature stages of the species of Entomognathus,based upon a review of the world literature. The major portion ofthis paper details the components of the nesting behavior of E. (Toncahua)memorialis Banks, describes the mature larva and cocoon,and compares this species and related crabronine and larrine waspsin nesting ethology and larval and cocoon morphology. The adultwasps and prey beetles have been placed in the S. U. N. Y. Collegeof Forestry Insect Museum. and the mature larva has been depositedin the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University