I have some photography equipment on loan that makes my images just a little better. I'm planning on re-imaging some of my stuff as well as yours. Some of the first photos I have taken are just horrendous and need to be re-done to have any use in the guide.

according to Wasbauer and Kimsey (1985) T. f. torridus is found in CA. But who cares about range anymore? Herschel Raney just sent me pics of what appears to be a male Chalcochares from Arkansas!

I care about range, CA is geographically cut of from all the other states by mountains and huge deserts so it has a lot of species unique to it and has few specimens found outside of its borders. I saw the chalcochares, its possibly the coolest looking specimen I've seen. are they rare?

That remark about range was totally unscientific, I was just surprised about the Chalcochares. However, I don't think it would be accurate to say that NONE of the species in California could ever be captured outside of their "normal" range in a surrounding state. Certain habitats or geographic features aren't walls, they are more like deterrents. It would be rare for a species to be found outside suitable habitat, but not impossible.
Anyway, Chalcochares IS rare in collections. I have seen only females. Whether the number of specimens in collections is an accurate depiction of their numbers in the wild is unknown.

whats chalcochares geographic location range?

I think we've all (all involved in the ID of this wasp) overlooked male Psorthaspis mariae. I'm going to e-mail Dr. Wasbauer about it. I've been thinking about this all weekend and I just remembered a male specimen of Psorthaspis mariae that looked very similar.

UPDATE: I looked at some of my notes and have e-mailed Dr. Wasbauer. I think I'm going to end up looking like a really big idiot.

The genus Chalcochares is generally restricted to the southwest. C. hirsutifemur is more western, being found in s. CA, s. AZ, s. NM, and w. TX. C. engleharti is the more eastern species, being resticted to TX and Mexico. I would think C. engleharti would be the most likely to pop up in Arkansas, but the specimen posted on this site seems to match C. hirsutifemur in most aspects. The fact is that it doesn't really match either species that great in certain details. However, it is a species of Chalcochares, that much is certain (unless there is a very hairy species of Evagetes that I'm overlooking).