270 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. tol. 58. 



indicated by Viereck. BracliyxijAosoma, in the opinion of the writer, 

 is doubtfully of even subgeneric rank, but is so trecated here, since 

 the genotype does differ from most of the species of Eiphosoma 

 in its unusually short malar space, in having the propodeum com- 

 pletely areolated and in having the ground color of the thorax black. 



Very long and slender, abdomen very strongly compressed, the 

 compression embracing the second tcrgite; head very strongly trans- 

 verse, the temples strongly sloping; eyes and ocelli large; antennae 

 about half as long as body; thorax rather stout; notauli deep ante- 

 riorly, becoming obsolete posteriorly; sternauli short but deep; pro- 

 podeum sloping, more or less completely areolated but usually not 

 completely so; aerolet, if present, oblique and petiolate; legs very 

 slender; hind femur slender at base, with a small tooth beneath at 

 apical fourth or fifth; hind trochanters very long, the two joints 

 subequal in length, basal joint very strongly obUque at apex; abdo- 

 men more than twice as long as head and thorax together; first 

 tergite enclosing sternite; second tergite at least as long as first, 

 usually longer; ovipositor less than half as long as abdomen. 



The following key includes both the subgeneric and specific charac- 

 ters of the North American species. 



KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES. 



1. Propodeum completely areolated (only the middle portionB of the longitudinal 



carinae sometimes obsolete); malar space less than half as long as basal width of 

 mandible; thorax black with yellow markings (subgenus Brachixiphosoma 



Viereck) pyralidis Ashmead . 



Propodeum with only the transverse carinae distinct, longitudinal carinae and 

 frequently the apical carina absent or obsolete; malar space at least half as long 

 as basal width of mandible; thorax yellow with black markings (subgenus Eipho- 

 soma Cresson) 2. 



2. Malar space half as long as basal width of mandible; face strongly elevated medially; 



propodeum and metapleurum separated by a distinct carina.. septentrionale Brues. 



Malar space distinctly more than half as long as basal width of mandible; face not 



especially strongly elevated; propodeum and metapleurum separated by a 



crenulate groove 3. 



3. Propodeum polished, sparsely punctured laterally and at most weakly rugulose 



medially, median impression broad; groove separating propodeum and meta- 

 pleurum shallow and distinctly crenulate, in male subcarinate. toanu?«, Cresson. 

 Propodeum opaque throughout, median impression narrow; groove separating pro- 

 podeiun and metapleurum deep and indistinctly crenulate. ..bruesi, new species. 



Subgenus BRACHIXIPHOSOMA Viereck. 



Brachixiphosoma Viereck, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. 42, 1912, p. 147. 

 Type. — Eiphosoma pyralidis Ashmead. 



Only two species have been referred to this subgenus. The type 

 is North American. The other, insularis Viereck, is West Indian. 

 It has the malar space only slightly shorter than the basal width of 

 the mandible, while the propodeal "neck" is not appreciably longer 



