104 FAMILY EVANIID^. 



agreed in restricting the family to the scope recognized in this 

 paper, except that some include with it the Stephanidge. While I 

 think the latter are sufficiently distinct to form a fan)ily by them- 

 selves, I believe they really are closely related to the Evaniidse, par- 

 ticularly through the Foeninse. There is a similarity in wing vena- 

 tion, and the insertion of the abdomen in Stephanus is on the lower 

 part of the propodeum, but above the coxae. Even the habitus is 

 somewhat similar. It is not improbable that the Foeninse may 

 really be more closely related to Stephanidse than to Evaniinee or 

 Aulacinse, and should really form a subfamily of the former rather 

 than of the Evaniidse. Although really I think all of the sub- 

 families here recognized are entitled to family rank. 



There are two characters that are usually employed in distin- 

 guishing the Evaniida3. These are the presence of the cell C in the 

 front wings (Fig. 69 j, and the insertion of the abdomen on the 

 propodeum far al)ove the posterior coxse. Neither are absolute, and 

 may be used only in conjuction with other characters. The Ste- 

 phanidfe, as before mentioned, have a distinct costal cell, while 

 several genera of Braconidic have the abdomen inserted on the 

 propodeum far above the coxae ; some of the Stephanidge less dis- 

 tinctly so. The Roproniidae have a distinct costal cell, but the 

 abdomen inserted normally. 



In designating the wing veins I have employed the system pro- 

 posed by Comstock and Needham.* I do this because I believe 

 that the venation thereby takes on an intelligible significance. The 

 veins are, I am convinced in the main, correctly homologized with 

 those of other orders. I intend to employ this system as far as 

 possible in my future studies of the Hyraenoptera. I refer the 

 reader who is not familiar with it to the paper of Comstock and 

 Needham just cited, and for its application to the Hymenoptei'a, 

 particularly to a paper by Dr. A. D. MacGillivray f on the wing 

 venation of the Tenthredinoidea, where the subject is treated very 

 clearly in Sections II and III, pp. 574 to 583. An appreciative 

 and careful study of these sections and their accompanying figures 

 will I am sure make the matter clear to any one. 



*" Wings of Insects," J. H. Comstock and J. (i. Needham, Amer. Nat., vol. 

 xxxii and xxxiii, 1898 and 1899. 



t "A Study of the Wings of the Tentliredinoidea, a Superfamilv of Hymen- 

 tera," by A. D. MacGillivray, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxix, pp. 569 65d, 190G. 



