'24 GENERA or irVMEXOPTEUA. 



Family CYNIPIDiE. 



The species of this iiiterestiii;j,- t'ainily aic all of small size, the 

 lieail ireiu'rally small and transverse, with slender, straiizht, I'J-K)- 

 jointed anteiuue ; thorax usnally robust, oval, the seutellum lartre, 

 of variable form and sometimes spined ; wings (sometimes wanting) 

 without a complete costal nervure and stigma (exce])t in the anoma- 

 lous genus Ibal'ut, which luv* an elongate cultriforni abdomen), and 

 with tew nervures ; abdomen generally oval, and more or less com- 

 pressed, rarely knife-shaped, the second or third segment lai'gest, the 

 ovipositor spiral ami concealed within two sheatL-^ or plates. 



In giving a synopsis of this family (which the compiler has never 

 studied, and has therefore very little personal knowledge of the cliar- 

 actei*s) it has been thought well to give tw^o methods of cla.ssification ; 

 first, that atlopted in the more recent tables by Mr. W. H. Ashmead 

 (Trans. Am. Ent. Hoc. xiii, pp. 59-64, 1886), which characterize all 

 the genera so far indicated lus occurring in this country ; and second, 

 a translation of the tables given by Dr. Mayr, in his " Die (Tcnera 

 der gallenbewohnenden Cynipiden," published in LSSl, and based 

 on a careful study of the European species and also many belonging 

 to our fauna, luii which do not include all the North American 

 genera, and omit entirely the Figitides. It is probable, however, 

 that when the relatiimship of our many dimorphic forms has been 

 carefully studied, as has lieen done for the Euro))ean species, the 

 cla.<sitication suggested by ^Ir. Ashmead will re(|uire a thorough 

 revision. 



According to the latter the family is divisible into two sections, 

 the majority of the species of the first section being true gall-makers, 

 producing galls or abdominal ijefurniatiuns or excrescences on various 

 treas and plants, while some are termed guest-flies, living in the galls 

 made by the former, from which they are said to be scarcely distin- 

 gnishal)le. The species of the second section are all jiarasitie in their 

 habits. 



The family is divided in the following manner: 



Miirtriiial cell of anlcrinr w iiif.'s loiij.' and narrow; venter visilili', or visiliU' for 

 more than lialf it.s leiiyth Section GYMKOGASTKI. 



Maruinal nil an e()nilateral lrian^;li-, venter not visilile, or witli tlie til) alone 

 (icca.sionallj' exposed Section ClfYl'TOtiASTlvI. 



The fir.st section contains the tine gall-makers (Psenides), the 

 gue.*it-flies ( ln(|uilines), and the peculiar genu,- //>a/iii : while the 

 second section include- the I-'iiiitides, which aic |)ara>itic. 



