.304 TKANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



MiCROPLiTis GORTYN.E, n. sp. — Length 2 mm. d' $ . Black; mandi- 

 "bles, labrum, palpi and antennte, the tegulse, nervures and stigma testa- 

 ceous ; the apical joints of palpi and the base of stigma whitish ; legs red ; 

 the posterior coxae black; wings hyaline. Antennae of the female a little 

 longer than the thorax and the joints no longer than broad; antennae of 

 the male longer than the body, most of the joints twice as long as broad. 

 Mesothorax punctured, opake, lateral grooves not sharply defined; 

 metathorax reticulated, with a median carina on its upper face. Abdomen 

 smooth and shining, base of first segment finely punctured, the broad 

 lateral margins of the first segment and the lateral anterior angles of the 

 second of a softer texture and tinged with piceous. Ovipositor not exserted. 

 Venation as in ceratomt'cr, but the areolet without any distinct side upon 

 the radius. 



Described from nine specimens bred from cocoons sent from 

 Iowa by Dr. A. W. Hoffmeister. Parasitic upon Gortyna 

 {Achatodes) zece Harr. The cocoons are light reddish-brown and 

 have about a dozen longitudinal ribs of a white color, and are 

 firmly attached together in irregular masses. I have found simi- 

 lar cocoons, more regularly arranged, beneath the bark of a 

 sycamore near the root. 



Specimens (1 (5" ,5 $) bred in January and February, 1874, 

 from Hepialus humuli received the previous autumn from Mr. 

 O. M. Knox, Oneida Co., N. Y., appear to belong to this species, 

 although some of them vary in having darker legs and antennse, 

 in the stigma being of a uniform color, and in the areolet being 

 quadrate. This species is quite distinct from ce7'atomiie in hav- 

 ing the antennae of the female short. 



In the genus Microplitis it is often difficult to decide whether 

 the areolet is open or closed, as the exterior vein is white or trans- 

 parent. In Apanteles this vein is entirely wanting and in Micro- 

 gaster it is as strongly marked as any of the other veins. In this 

 respect, therefore, Microplitis stands between the other genera ; 

 but in all its other characters, excepting the enlarged coxae, Mi- 

 crogaster occupies the intermediate position. 



Apanteles megathymi, n. sp.— Length of body 3 mm. r? $ • Black; 

 palpi whitish, antennae piceous ; legs red, the coxte, and in the males the 

 posterior femora and tarsi and the tips of the posterior tibire. black or 

 piceous, in the females the tips of posterior tibia^ and the posterior tarsi 

 dusky; wings, including the stigma, kyalitie; tegulse and nervures white, 

 the costa and the outline of the stigma testaceous. Mesonotum closely 

 punctate, the punctures tending to unite to form striae, opake, the scutel- 

 lum polished, sparsely punctate ; metathorax finely reticulate, divided into 



