76 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



This is the commonest species of our wingless Cryptids, but I have 

 noted only one mention of its having been bred, which is in the list pub- 

 lished in Insect Life (loc. cit.) of bred parasitic hymenoptera in the 

 United States National Museum, the record being as follows : — 

 ''Biucidatrix found on stone, Virginia, April 9th." The species is there 

 referred to the genus Stibeutes, which in Cresson's synopsis is said to 

 have the " Metathorax completely and regularly areolated," while in 

 Pezomachus it is " not, or irregularly areolated." None of my 

 specimens show any areolation, the indications of any metathoracic 

 carinae being of the feeblest nature. This insect has frequently been 

 taken with the sweeping-net on foliage from June to September, and on 

 one occasion in the latter month, as I was reclining under a pine tree, 

 near Aylmer, I observed numerous examples running about on the carpet 

 of dead pine leaves which covered the ground. They had a remarkable 

 resemblance to some of the anta- which are always roaming around in 

 such places. Last April I obtained, under a large flake of loose bark on 

 an elm stump, a number of egg-cocoons of an undetermined spider. They 

 were hemispherical in shape, and made of a very white silk, and were 

 covered by irregular tent like masses of the same flocculent, viscid silk, 

 spun between the bark and the surface of the wood. On opening one of 

 the egg-masses I found two hymenopterous larvfu among the yellow eggs, 

 and therefore secured a number of the cocoons, which, when removed, 

 adhered to one another and formed a sticky mass in the small box in 

 which I had to place them. Two of the parasites emerged on May 19th, 

 and proved to be males of a Hemiteles not in my collection. Two days 

 later a similar winged male appeared, and also three wingless males, 

 which I saw belonged to Pezomachus Pettitii. Four wingless males, 

 one winged male, and one female emerged the following day, and others 

 followed until, in all, I obtained four females, seven wingless males, and 

 six winged males. There can be no doubt that the winged forms, though 

 differing in the shape of the thorax from those without wings, are speci- 

 fically the same. This rearing confirms the opinion held by many 

 authors [For example see Walsh, Can. Ent., Vol. II., p. jo.], of the 

 identity of the genera Hemiteles and Pezomachus, and I have special 

 pleasure in recording it at the present time, in view of the following 

 recent reference to the subject by Dr. Sharp (Cam. Nat. Hist., Vol. V., 

 P- 556): "The little Ichneumons of the genus Pezomachus are quite 

 destitute of wings, and somewhat resemble ants ; they are quite common 



