PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



VOL. 24 FEBRUARY 1922 No. 2 



A LIST OF PHYTOPHAGOUS CHALCIDOIDEA WITH DESCRIP- 

 TIONS OF TWO NEW SPECIES. 1 



B\ A. B. GAHAN. 



Phytophagous habits among certain groups of Chalcidoidea 

 although strenuously disputed at one time are now established 

 and well known facts. C. R. Crosby in 1909 (Cornell Univ. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 265, p. 368) gave a short resume of the 

 groups and species at that time known to be plant-feeders. 

 Included in this list are representatives of three families, viz., 

 Agaonidae, Callimomidae (= = Torymidae), and Eurytomidae. 

 Excepting the Agaonidae or true fig insects, and the Callimomid 

 subfamily Idarninae associated with the fig-insects but whose 

 relationship is not clearly understood, all of the phytophagic 

 forms listed by Crosby, with one exception, are either seed 

 chalcids or grass and grain stem-infesting species. The single 

 exception is the Eurytomid, (Isosoma) Eurytoma orchidearum 

 Westwood, which infests the leaves and stems of orchids. 



Crosby apparently overlooked two or three interesting 

 papers, and more recent literature has brought to light numer- 

 ous additional examples of phytophagic species. These 

 additional records not only involve other groups of Chalci- 

 doidea, but show an interesting diversity in modes of life. 



Whereas Crosby's list showed representatives of only three 

 families, the present list includes species placed in six families. 

 The three not included by Crosby are Perilampidae, Encyrtidae, 

 and ' Eulophidae. There is considerable doubt in the writer's 

 mind whether all of the species are correctly placed but the 

 fact remains that they probably represent groups quite differ- 

 ent from those commonly known to include plant-feeding 

 species. In Ashmead's systematic arrangement of the families, 

 the Agaonidae are placed first and the Eulophidae last with the 

 four other families, in which phytophagy is said to occur, 

 ranging themselves between. This fact, provided they are 

 correctly classified, would seem to indicate that plant-feeding 



'This paper is a contribution from the Division of Cereal and Forage Crop 

 Insects, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department <>t Agriculture. Credit 

 for the included list of phytophagous species is largely due to Miss Margaret 

 Fagan who has compiled from literature most of the references and data. 



