ICHNEUMON-FLIES, PART 2\ EPHIALTLNAE 101 



distributed; submetapleural carina complete or more or less of its 

 posterior portion lacking; propodeum moderately long, with a broad, 

 weak, median longitudinal groove on its basal 0.4 ± and a weak ridge 

 on each side of the groove in place of the median longitudinal carinae, 

 the carinae themselves not present; areolet sub triangular, a little 

 longer than high, receiving second recurrent vein before its outer 

 corner; nervellus broken at or above the middle; first tergite short 

 and wide, much shorter than the second tergite ; basal oblique grooves 

 on second tergite broad and weak, extending about 0.3 the length of 

 the tergite; third and fourth tergites with large weak tubercles, their 

 apical impunctate bands occupying about 0.35 their length; female 

 subgenital plate sclerotized only basally and laterally; ovipositor 

 sheath 1.8 to 5.0 as long as front wing; ovipositor straight, slender, 

 cylindric, its apex as in figures 329,h and 330,a, the apex a little 

 depressed with the ventral valves somewhat enclosing the dorsal 

 valve, the ridges of then basal teeth curved forward near the dorsal 

 end. 



The generic name Pimpla, in its long history, has had a variety 

 of applications. Traditionally, it has been and still is used for 

 nearly all of the shorter bodied Pimplini like Scambus, Tromatobia, 

 Exeristes, Iseropus, etc., and for members of the tribes Ephialtini 

 and Theroniini. From a nomenclature! standpoint its proper applica- 

 tion was decided when Curtis designated Ichneumon manifestator as 

 the genotype, in 1828. We limit the name to the species closely 

 related to this genotype. Certain recent authors limit the name to 

 Coccygomimus (in the Ephialtini), basing their action on what they 

 regard as the "usage" of the name and on an Opinion (No. 159), 

 published in 1945, of the International Commission on Zoological 

 Nomenclature, rather than on Curtis' genotype selection in 1828. 

 (Opinion No. 159, incidentally, is a spurious one. It has the same 

 history and status as Opinion No. 166, on Psammochares; see Townes, 

 1958, Syst. Zool., vol. 6, p. 151-156.) 



Pimpla, as defined here, contains a small number of elongate specie9 

 and is confined to the Holarctic region (including the mountains 

 of Formosa). There are four species in North America, of which two 

 (spatulata and brevis) occur also in Europe. In Europe, we know of 

 four species (including the two Holarctic ones) but their nomenclature 

 is rather confused. By far the commonest European species, which 

 may be manifestator (Linnaeus), is near the Holarctic P. spatulata 

 but differs in having the male clasper tapered to a point and in both 

 sexes a little less infuscation on the apex of the hind femur. Ephialtes 

 polytauma Heinrich 1949, described from southern Germany, is a 

 rare species of which we have seen only the type (Townes Collection) 

 and a specimen in the Munich museum. Ephialtes duplicauda 



