No. 3. — Parasitic Hi/menoptera from the British Solomon Islands 

 collected by Dr. W. M. Mann. 



By Charles T. Brues. 



contributions from the entomological laboratory of the 

 bussey institution, harvard university, no. 14l 



Until a few years ago the Hymenoptera of the Solomon Islands 

 remained practically unknown. In 1909, Mr. W. W. Froggatt 

 secured a small collection on the islands and these have been studied 

 by several workers. The parasitic forms were examined by Cameron 

 (Proc. Linn. soc. N. S. W., 1911, 36, p. 349-365), who found seven- 

 teen species, all of which he described as new. At least one of these 

 (Echthromorpha paUidilincata) had been previously recorded under 

 another name from the Pelew Islands. In the collection obtained by 

 Dr. Mann there are 32 species which I liave been able to study 

 satisfactorily. Six of these are identical with ones described by 

 Cameron from the Solomons; two are forms occurring in New Guinea; 

 one was described years ago by Westwood from the Solomons, and 

 two are rather widespread Indo-Malayan species. 



Many of the genera are world-wide; several range through India 

 and the Malay region. One, Lissopimpla, is Australian, although it 

 extends to Ceylon, and L. crythropus is therefore an Australian type, 

 even if it be not specifically identical with L. scutata Krieg. from 

 Queensland as has been suggested by Morley. 



Among the bees of the Solomons, Cockerell (Proc. Linn. soc. 

 N. S. W., 1911, 36, p. 160) has pointed out general Indo-Malayan 

 affinities with "a genuine Australian element" and this is equally 

 true of the parasitic Hymenoptera, so far as the material and pub- 

 lished records go. It may be of interest to note that Meroglossa 

 tetraxantha Ckll., a bee mentioned by Cockerell as belonging to a 

 typically Australian genus was also taken by Mann, who secured a 

 single specimen on the island of Yandina, showing that the species 

 is probably a common one in the Solomons. 



I have attempted to gather together a list of the parasitic Hymen- 

 optera so far reported from the Solomon Islands and their neighbors 

 as far as the Bismarck Archipelago on the northwest and New Cale- 

 donia on the southeast. It is evident that the grouping of these 



