210 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



Fig. 37. — Lamp chimne.v cages used 

 history investigations of Leptomustix sp. 



in the life 

 (Original.) 



Adult. 



This is a four-winged insect of the family Encyrtida?, quite unlike any 

 other species of this family known from California and easily recog- 

 nized with the aid of the 

 accompanying photo- 

 g r a p h. The length 

 ranges from .75 to 1.5 

 mm. The females are 

 usually longer than the 

 males. The top of the 

 head is yellowish, the 

 face whitish, thorax and 

 abdomen above more or 

 Jes.s brownish and yel- 

 lowish, beneath whitish 

 and fuscous ; antenna of 

 female brownish with 

 the first joint whitisli 

 beneath, the antennas in 

 the female without con- 

 spicuous erect hairs as in 

 the male antennae; legs 

 in both sexes and male 

 antennae straw color 



with a brownish tinge; wings almost colorless, iridescent with three 



transparent blackish bands as shown in the halftone figure. 



In the cages the parasites spend much of their time walking on the 



sides or ceiling of the cage or on the lemons or flying through the 



air. They copulate 



freely while on the cage 



or on the lemons. While 



on the lemons they may 



be seen to advantage 



strutting about proud 



as a peacock, causing one 



to recall the name of the 



genotype, i. e., histrio. 



When not strutting 



about as shown in Fig. 



88, they may be seen lap- 

 ping up hone}^ dew, 



copulating, ovipositing 



or resting. While rest- 

 ing or walking around 



the wings are held in a 



peculiar manner. The 



left wings lie flat over 



the thorax and abdomen 



with the right wings tilted almost at right angles to the left wings and 



vice versa, making the tilted wings look as though they were broken 



near the base when photographed. 



Fig. 38.- 

 of a lemon. 

 Smith.) 



-Adult of Leptomastix sp. on the suiface 

 Greatly enlarged. (Photo by Harry S. 



