202 HYMENOPTEEA. 



a well-defined longitudinal suture on the mesopleura, by the second abdominal segment 

 not bearing gastrocceli, while generally the mesonotal sutures are distinct. 



The areolet is 5-angled, never petiolate, sometimes large, often very small ; the outer 

 uervure not unfrequently pellucid or entirely absent. The abdomen is depressed, its 

 petiole slender, and in the male the postpetiole is rounded, or at least not distinctly 

 transverse, never sessile. The metathoracic areae are never so well-developed as in the 

 " Ichneumonides " ; often they are absent entirely. There are sometimes one or two 

 transverse keels on the metanotum, often none. Many species have well-developed 

 spines on the metathorax. 



The generic distinctions are often far from clear. If we use the generic names as 

 defined by Gravenhorst and the older authors, we can, as a rule, refer our species to 

 such genera as Cryptus, Mesostenus, Phygadeuon, and Hemiteles ; but if we were to limit 

 them according to the views of Forster and Thomson, as these authors have arranged the 

 European species, we should be under the necessity of creating numerous new 

 genera. In the present state of the science, however, it seems to me very undesir- 

 able to do so. 



CRYPTUS. 



Cryptus, Fabricius, Syst. Piez. p. 70. 



This is a genus of world-wide distribution. In Central America we find two well- 

 marked groups — one of a northern type, with black head and thorax and red abdomen ; 

 the other with reddish bodies, and the wings fuscous with yellow bands, or yellow 

 with fuscous bands ; this latter type of coloration being a not uncommon one in South 

 America. 



A. Head and thorax black ; abdomen red. (Species 1-6.) 

 a. Legs Mack. (Species 1-5.) 

 1. Cryptus bicolor. (Tab. IX. fig. 12.) 



Cryptus bicolor, F. Smith, Descrip. of New Species of Hymen, p. 231 \ 

 Hab. Costa Rica, Volcan de Irazu 6000 to 7000 feet 1 (Rogers). 



This is a larger and stouter species than C. montezuma ; the silvery pubescence on 

 the head and thorax is, if anything, denser ; the scutellum more shining, and with the 

 shallow punctures more widely scattered ; the triangular area found in the middle of the 

 metanotum in C. montezuma is not clearly defined, nor is there an angled cellule at its 

 base ; the lower transverse keel is not angled at the sides, it forming a curve from side 

 to side, while in the other species it is quite straight in the middle, and with the sides 

 angled, while the abdomen is stouter and longer. 



