J. H. MERRILL 133 



at the tips, and possess no areolet, neither are there any dark 

 markings on the face. M. nortonii may be distinguished from 

 M. atrata, humida, canadensis and nitida by the fact that in these 

 latter forms the greater part of the surface of the bod}' is black, 

 with white, yellow, or fuscous body markings. 



Megarhyssa nortonii is widely distributed throughout the 

 United States, Canada, and Alaska. Specimens taken from the 

 Pacific coast ranging from Alaska down through California, 

 exhiljit in general much darker color markings than those taken 

 east of the Rocky Mountains. 



Provancher described M. nortonii as Thalessa quehecensis in 

 1873, but as he applied the identical description to Thalessa 

 nortonii in 1883, it shows that he recognized that the two were 

 identical. The dates of capture of specimens seen range from 

 May 20 to Aug. 7. 



Male. Not having seen what he would consider a bona-fide 

 specimen of a male nortonii, the writer will use a translation of 

 Provancher's description of a male.^ 



Male. Length one and one-tenth inches. Differ little from the female. 

 The poUshed plaque of the two sides of the prothorax is without yeUow spots. 

 The metathorax is clearer towards its extremity, without spots on the sides 

 and flanks are of a uniform, shiny red. Segments one and two have a yeUow 

 band towards the summit. The second segment is the same as that of the 

 female, bordered with black at both ends and on the sides. The recurrent 

 nervure is interstitial with the outer transverse cubital. 



Megarhyssa lunator (Fabricius) 



Idineumon lunator Fabricius, Spec. Insect., i, 1781, p. 4.30, n. 64. 



The following references are additions to the Hst given by Dalla Torre: 



Lintner, Country Gentleman, July 1883, p. 561. 



Harrington, Canadian Entomologist, xix, 1887, p. 206. 



Riley, Insect Life, i, 1888-89, p. 168 et seq. 



Smith, Insects of New Jersey, 1909, p. 627. 



There seems to be no record of the present location of the type 

 of this species. 



9 . The individuals of this sex vary in length from three-quarters of an 

 inch to an inch and a half, and the ovipositor from an inch and a half to three 

 and three-quarters inches. The head is yellow with a transverse dark band 

 on its vertex, in which are inserted the three ocelli. Another dark band behind 

 the former and running parallel to it, ahiiost encircles the head. A dark line 

 runs from the base of each antenna to the labrum. The mandibles are dark 

 brown, stout and bidentate. The antennae are dark brown and slender, 



*Le Naturaliste Canadien, v, 1873, p. 445. 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC, XLI. 



