Vol. XXIV] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. l6l 



Entomology, pg. 79, 1907) cites P. aurantii as the type. How- 

 ever, this cannot be accepted, for W. H. Ashmead in the 

 "Classification of the Chalcid Flies" (Memoirs of the Carnegie 

 Museum, Vol. I, No. 4, p. 345, 1904, designated P. murtfeldtii 

 as the type of the genus. Previous to this, the writer finds no 

 mention of a type species, as the original description of the 

 genus by Dr. Howard (Insect Life, Vol. VII, p. 6, 1894) is 

 silent on the subject, as is also a subsequent paper (Technical 

 Series No. i, U. S. Bureau of Entomology, p. 39, 1895). 

 Therefore Ashmead's designation of murtfeldtii as the type 

 must hold. That such is the case is rather unfortunate, as this 

 species is rather less typical of the genus, as now known, 

 than is P. aurantii. Moreover, with the addition of the species 

 herein proposed, a few long-needed changes in the generic de- 

 scription become more apparent than ever. 



1. First joint of the club is not always the widest. In P. 

 peruviana sp. nov. the second joint equals, or is greater than, 

 the first in width. 



2. In some species the body does not taper "gradually from 

 tegulae to tip of abdomen." This gradual tapering may be 

 true of the type species, P. murtfeldtii, but it is not the case 

 with P. peruviana or specimens of P. aurantii collected in 

 Peru, in which the sides of the first, or longest, segment are 

 nearly parallel, and in P. berlesei How. the abdomen is ac- 

 tually wider in the center than at either extremity. 



3. Eyes not always naked. The eyes of P. peruviana are 

 distinctly hairy, as can be seen in fresh specimens with the 

 16 mm. objective, or in balsam mounts with the 4 mm. objec- 

 tive. The eyes of P. quercicola How. are also mentioned as 

 being faintly hairy, in the description of that species (Annals 

 Entomological Society of America, Vol. I, p. 282, 1908). 



Prospaltella peruviana sp. nov. 



I'l-nuilc. Length, 0.75 mm. ; greatest length of fore wing, 0.6 mm. 

 Differs from P. aurantii How. to which it is closely related, as follows: 

 Body slightly larger. Funicle joints i, 2 and 3 increasing gradually 

 and uniformly in both length and diameter. Fore-wings broader, 

 slightly longer, not so slender and with a more pronounced outward 



