The Rev. Wm. Kırzy on a new Order of Insects. 95 
be said to this insect? The more I consider it, the more I won- 
der it is so very extraordinary. What can be the use of the 
mandibulz, for such they certainly are? ‘They are not strong 
enough to cut its way through the paper cells of the wasp's 
comb; can they be useful in opening the sides of the larva for 
depositing the eggs ?" 
Thus far my ingenious correspondent: I shall now notice the 
particulars which Rossi has detailed as observable in the species 
he discovered, Xenos Vesparum, which although parasitic in the 
same tribe of insects, as far as I can judge from his figure * and 
description, appears to be a distinct species from Professor Penk, 
if indeed it belong to the same genus. 
It inhabits, he says, Vespa gallica, in which it is uei 
found; and V. sexfasciata, with some other more minute species, 
are also infested by a similar foe, but whether the same. he 
had no opportunity to ascertain. | The individuals inhabited 
by the Xenos, he observes, are readily known by the unnatural 
swelling of the fourth segment of the abdomen, from which the 
insect in its pupa state usually emerges, sometimes one, often 
two, and now and then even three in the same wasp. The 
imago or perfect insect generally comes forth in August and Sep- 
tember: and if about that time the pupa be extracted with a 
needle from the abdomen of the wasp, and its covering being 
broken, if it be carefully stripped of its white tunic, living speci- 
mens may be obtained. Perhaps the egg of this animal is laid 
in the larva of the wasp before its cell is closed. It is wonder- 
ful that the Vespa, after supporting one or more of these insects, 
should survive; yet they are often met with having only the 
—* Fn. Etrusc. Mantiss. tab, vii. fig. B. bL- This figure is a very indifferent one, and 
conveys no clear idea of the insect, at least, if, as seems, most probable, it be con 
with Xenos Peckii. 
p*chU o 
exuviae 
