Delta campaniforme rendalli (Bingham) and Zeta argillaceum (Linnaeus) Established in Southern Florida, and Comments on Generic Discretion in Eumenes s. l. (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae)

Ancistroceroides de Saussure, a Potter Wasp Genus New for the United States, with a New Key to the Genera of Eumeninae of America North of Mexico (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

“…These subgenera were recently treated as genera by Bohart (1999), a course that is rejected here. The elevation of these subgenera was ''merely the sort of extreme splitting that Menke and Stange (1986) termed 'irrational,' which has been haphazardly pursued during much of the last century, and which has resulted in a worldwide generic classification of Eumeninae that Parker (1966) termed 'chaotic''' (Carpenter and Garcete-Barrett, 2003:52 (Figs. 7,9,10); second submarginal cell of forewing with first and second abscissae of M forming acute basal angle (Fig.…”

Two New Generic Synonyms in Eumeninae (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

“…Menke and Stange (1986: 700) made the important point “In our opinion this splitting is extreme, and it reflects the fact that specialists in the family fail to appreciate that genera have an important practical component: a generic name should convey information to the broad user community. The old cliche ‘unable to see the forest for the trees’ applies to those who have split Eumenes , a meaningful taxon, into many small genera with similar facies.” They went on to term this splitting “irrational.” I agree that this proliferation of generic names is excessive - and unnecessary - and it is useful to neither those investigating the evolution of these wasps nor those simply attempting to identify the species at hand.…”

Nesting Biology of Zeta Argillaceum (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) in Southern Florida, U.S.

“…Recently introduced into the Southern United States (Menke & Stange 1986;Stange 1987), Z. argillaceum appears to be expanding its range. Like mud daubers in the genera Trypoxylon and Sceliphron , Z. argillaceum nests harbor not only its offspring but also numerous other arthropods, including scavengers, parasites and predators, and their nests could be used to teach ecological interactions (Matthews 1997).…”

“…Like mud daubers in the genera Trypoxylon and Sceliphron , Z. argillaceum nests harbor not only its offspring but also numerous other arthropods, including scavengers, parasites and predators, and their nests could be used to teach ecological interactions (Matthews 1997). Menke & Stange (1986) summarized the nesting biology of Z. argillaceum . They relied heavily on Taffe (1979) who studied the biology of Zeta canaliculatum (= Z. argillaceum ) in Trinidad.…”