ICHNEUMON-FLIES, PART 2 1 EPHIALTINAE 263 



Front wing 2.5 to 5.5 mm. long; eye bare; clypeus medium sized 

 to large, weakly to sharply separated from face, weakly or moderately 

 convex; epomia rather strong; mesoscutum polished to mat, usually 

 almost bare or with a number of hairs on the front part of its median 

 lobe, rarely covered with hairs except for median part of lateral lobes, 

 which is almost or quite bare; notaulus long, usually sharp; prepectal 

 carina complete, its upper end distant from front edge of mesopleurum; 

 pleural carina complete; legs slender to rather stout; areolet absent; 

 intercubitus 0.1 to 0.3 as long as second abscissa of cubitus, or almost 

 obliterated by approximation of cubital and radial veins; nervulus 

 postfurcal, or rarely interstitial, usually postfurcal by about 0.4 its 

 length; discoidella present or absent; first tergite of moderate length ; 

 second to fourth tergites mat to polished, with long sparse hairs, with 

 sharp oblique impressions or grooves which delimit a large median 

 rhombic area on each; ovipositor sheath about 1.4 as long as apical 

 depth of abdomen; ovipositor straight or its apical third weakly 

 upcurved, with a median swelling apicad of which it is usually rather 

 abruptly tapered, the point usually very long and slender (figs. 332,j,k). 



There are two rather distinct species groups in Zatypota, but because 

 they are difficult to define we have not made formal use of them in the 

 classification below. The first ten species treated below, plus an un- 

 described species from Brazil, constitute one group. In this, the lower 

 end of the epomia turns posteriorly along the ventral swelling of the 

 pronotum, the discoidella is often present, the propodeum mat, the 

 petiolar area of propodeum usually not well defined basally, the lateral 

 longitudinal carina of propodeum short, and the rhombic areas of 

 tergites mat. The second group includes the last three species treated, 

 five undescribed species from Brazil, Peru, India, Formosa, and the 

 Philippines, the European Polysphincta discolor Holmgren 1860 and 

 Polysphincta eximia Schmiedeknecht 1907, the Japanese Polysphincta 

 japonica Uchida 1927, and the Ethiopian Zatypota prima Benoit 1953. 

 The description of Lycorinopsis rhombifer Haupt 1954 indicates that 

 it also belongs to the second group, but we have not seen specimens of 

 it. This second group has the epomia straight and continuing across 

 the lower swelling of pronotum, the discoidella never present, the 

 propodeum polished or mat, the petiolar area of propodeum com- 

 pletely bounded by a sharp carina, the lateral carina of propodeum 

 long, and the rhombic areas on tergites sharply set off and polished or 

 weakly mat. Were it not for a number of species with rather inter- 

 mediate characters, one might recognize the second group as a genus 

 or subgenus, with the name Polysphinctopsis. It happens that the 

 most nearly intermediate species is percontatoria, the genotype of 

 Zatypota. It could about as well be placed in either group. 



We have seen the types of the Madagascan Zatypota inexpectata 



