HEXAPODA : HYMETSTOPTBKA ICHNEUMONS, ETC. 305 



FIG. 387. 



by visiting the ant-hills of other species, and forcibly 

 taking the larvae and pupae and bringing them to their own 

 nest, and there having them reared and trained to work 

 for the community in which they are reared! 



The Ichneumons or Ichnemnonidae have the body long 



and narrow, the antennae 

 long, the ovipositor gen- 

 erally long and protected 

 by two thread-like organs 

 of the same length as the 

 ovipositor itself. Ichneu- 

 mons deposit their eggs in 

 the eggs, larvae, and pupae 

 of other insects ; and upon 



FIG. 388. 



FIG. 389. 



Ichneumon, Pimpla lunator, Fabr., oviposit- Ichneumon, I. surturalis, Say. 



ing in holes bored by Tremex. 



these the ichneumon larva feeds when hatched. 



Among the interesting members of the Hymenoptera 



are the Gall-flies or Cynipidae. By puncturing a species 



of oak growing in Western Asia, Gall- 

 flies produce the nut-galls of commerce, 

 and these supply the world with ink. 

 The Gall-flies have the head short and 

 broad, the thorax thick and oval, and 

 the abdomen much compressed and 

 attached to the thorax by a very short 

 pedicel. They are very numerous, 



and the different kinds attack different kinds of plants. 



I 



Kose-bush Gall-fly, RJw- 

 dites dichtocerus, Harris. 



