■rilK CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 29 



a large ])roportion of the insects now recognized, and to erect a consider- 

 able number of genera for their reception. The labour involved in the 

 critical examinations requisite for the determination and description of so 

 many microscopic forms, and in the preparation of the voluminous text, 

 must have been enormous, yet the author has been able to amplify and 

 embellish his work by the delineation of some one hundred and fifty 

 exquisite figures. 



The position of the Proctotrypidse in the order Hymenoptera is con- 

 sidered to be much more closely allied to some families of the Aculeata 

 than to thf Chalcididae, with which they have been usually grouped, while 

 they also approach in other respects the parasitic Cynipidee. The 

 Mymarime, hitherto included as a sub-family, are set aside as constituting 

 a distinct family allied to the Chalcididae, so that the species now con- 

 tained in the Proctotrypidse are characterized, and distinguished from tne 

 Chalcids, by the pronotum extending back to the tegulae, and the ovi- 

 positor issuing from the tip of the abdomen. Ten sub-families are 

 recognized, which contain about one hundred and thirty genera, repre- 

 sented by nearly six hundred species — a doubling of the genera and 

 quadrupling of the species as enumerated in the catalogue of Hymenop- 

 tera issued a few years ago by Mr. Cresson. Many of the genera are 

 known only by single species, but others contain numerous forms, the 

 most extensive being Polygnotus (32), Proctotrypes (21J, Prosacantha 

 (27) and Telenomus (32). The synoptic tables requisite for the separa 

 tion of the species in such genera, as well as the tables for the distinction 

 of genera, etc., give evidence of great care and skill in their preparation 

 and arrangement. 



While many of the genera are apparently confined to the more south- 

 erly and westerly regions, the species in other groups have an extended 

 range, which at times seems to be almost continental, as for instance 

 Proctotrypes calif orniais, which has been taken at Ottawa The members 

 of this family have received but scanty attention in Canada, so that their 

 distribution northward cannot be stated, but undoubtedly many interest- 

 ing species could be found by a careful and patient collector in any 

 locality. Provancher, in his Faune Entomologique, was able only to 

 announce the occurrence of nine, species, and about twice as many are 

 recorded in his Additions completed just before his death. Mr. Ashmead, 

 however, has been able to enlarge the list of Canadian species to about 

 ninety. With the exception of three forms from Vancouver Island, the 



