THE GENETICS OF HABROBRACON JUGLANDIS ASHMEAD 



Whiting, 1918, 1921e), and H. juglandis (Cush- 

 man, 1922 )■. 



The type specimens of Bracon hebetor (Say) 

 and of B. dorsator (Say) have been lo^t, but 

 those of B. juglandis (Ashmead), and Habrobra- 

 con benef icientior (Viereck) are in the United 

 States National Museum, Washington, D. C, the 

 former bearing type catalogue number 2913, the 

 latter, number 13494. 



The species, Microbracon hebetor (Say), is) 

 exceedingly close to M. brevicornis (Wesmael), 

 and the tv/o have been much confused in litera- 

 ture. In early papers on the genetics: of 

 Habrobracon juglandis, the name, H. brevicornisi 

 (Wesmael) was used, Cushman (1922) cleared up 

 thisi matter, calling attention to th'e differ- 

 ence in habit between the two species, and 

 pointing out some morphological differences-. 

 Habrobracon brevicornis is known to parasitize 

 the European corn-borer, Pyrausta nubilalis, 

 while Habrobracon juglandis parasitizes the 

 Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella 

 (Zeller). The females of Microbracon hebetor 

 are readily distinguished from those of M. 

 brevicornis by the antennae, which consist of 

 13-15 segments in the former, and 17-19 seg- 

 ments in the latter. At this time, however, 

 Cushman did not regard Bracon juglandis (Ash- 

 mead) as identical with B. hebetor (Say). It 

 appears, after a careful consideration of Say's 

 description of B. hebetor, that there can be nO' 

 reasonable doubt that Say and Ashmead were 

 dealing with the same species (Muesebeck, 1925)t. 

 The name Hadrcbracon brevicornis (Wesmael) waS' 

 used by Doten (1911) in describing the relation 

 of food to reproduction and longevity in cer- 



