OUR HYMENOPTERA. 29 



The first family of the Terebrantia entomophaga is the Cynipidce. 

 They are for the most part microscopic insects, and the very large 

 majorit}' of those described are gall producers. " Apples of Sodom" 

 and " Robin's pincushion " at home are the work of cynips, while 

 the ink gall of commerce is the handiwork of au exotic species. No 

 one has worked the Bombay, or indeed to any extent the Indian 

 Cynipidce, so that for any of our members with leisui'e and a turn for 

 microscopic research there is a grand field. It is a most interesting 

 family, many of the species being dimorphous, and their reproduc- 

 tion nearly, if not quite, as complex as that of the Aphides. 



The galls of the Cynipidce are said to be often much infested by 

 insects of the next family, viz., the Chalcididw. We have speci- 

 mens of a few species, but as in the Cynipidce, very many are 

 extremely minute. Of the specimens in the Society's collection, No.l 

 (Leucospis atra) Avas brod from pupae of the commom Bombay but- 

 terfly, Delias eucharis. Another is parasitic on a small Mason Bee, 

 which may be found during the rains in the Dekhan busy constructing 

 its nest in the holes and cracks of every wall, and lately I have reared 

 a large species from the nest of a wasp (R. litidulum). 



The next family, the Ichneumonidce, is a very large one, no less 

 than 1,200 species having been described by one European writer. 

 A very large proportion are probably parasitic on the larvae of 

 various Lepidoptvra, but no observations as to the life history of Indian 

 species have been recorded : indeed few, if any, seem to have been 

 named. At any rate some of the commonest in the Society's 

 collection when sent home to the British Museum were said to be 

 undescribed. 



The Braconidce are a small family which has lately been separated 

 from the last, the differential character being chiefly the comparative 

 length of the various antennal joints, and the soldering together 

 of the 2nd and 3rd fragments of the abdomen in the Braconidce. 

 Some of the Braconidce are very minute, and are parasitic on the 



Aphidce- 



The Evaniidce, or at any rate the commoner species of the family, 

 are parasitic on the cockroach. E. Iceuigate in our collection is a 

 very common Bombay insect, haunting our bathrooms, and a most 

 extraordinary looking insect it is; the abdomen is very small and 

 attached by a pedicle, or stalk, appareutly to the nape of the neck. 



The last family of the Terebrantia is the Chrysididce. By some it 

 has been proposed to form it into a distinct group under the nam© 



