142 PROCEEDIXGS OF THE XATIOyAJL MUSEUM. tol. 43. 



wliit^ birch in connection witli Xiphydria. Gaulle (1906) gives the 



host plants of the common European species as Fagus syhxiti^^a and 



Alnu.s incana. Konovr (1902) records the same species from Fagus 



s]/hxiii.ca and says the larvae are smaller than those of Trernex. Unfor- 



ttmately, in the table of larva? nothing is said of Oryssus, so we do not 



know if its larval characters are the same as those of Treniex or not. 



For America we have an observation made by A. D. Hopkins which 



seems to confirm the theory that Oryssus is parasitic. An Oryssid 



pupa was found in an old mine of a Cerambycid (see p. 156). Did this 



insect crawl in the Cerambycid mine to pupate ? If so, where did it 



sp)end its larval period ? Or, was the Oryssid parasitic on the 



Cerambvcid ? 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Oryssoidea are so rare and their habits so imperfectly known 

 that it is very difficult to map their distribution. If we knew the 

 host plants, or knew that they are restricted to c-ertain host plants, 

 we could plot their distribution with more assurance. From the 

 accompanving maps (pis. 32-33) it will be seen that as a super- 

 family they are found in all of the major regions, but singularly are 

 absent in Palaearctic 3 and 4^; Oriental 1, 2, and 3; Australian 4; 

 and -Hthiopean 4. The Xearctic and Palsearctic (1 and 2) have only 

 the genus Oryssus, but this genus is also represented in the Neo- 

 tropical and Australian regions. The Neotropical region has the 

 genera Oryssus and Ophrynopus. The JEthiopean has Chalinus, and 

 recently a species of Oryssus has been added. The Oriental (4) has 

 the two genera Mocsarya and Stirocorsia. The Australian has rep- 

 resentatives of Oryssus and OpJirynopus. 



EXTERNAL ANATOMY. 



Head. — Seen from in front, the head is transversely oval; the eyes 

 large, converging toward the vertex; malar space large; - ocehi pres- 

 ent, the lateral ones close to the inner margins of the eyes and in some 

 specimens somewhat imperfect; posterior orbits narrower below; 

 vertex tuberculate; front with or without carina; cl^rpeus consoh- 

 dated with the front; antennae inserted in a groove above the base 

 of the mandibles; labnmi small, free, present between the bases of the 

 mandibles; mandibles small, stout, broad apically and more or less 

 dentate; antennae in the female 10-jointed, with the ninth joint large 

 and the apical one small, slender in the male ll-jointed, and of the 

 normal type: maxillary palpi long, slender, 5-jointed; labial palpi 

 short, clavate, 3-jointed. 



The head of the Oryssidae is very specialized, and as yet, not thor- 

 oughly undeistood. It seems probable that the clypeus may be con- 



' The fi^nres refer to Wallaoe's Zoological Kegions described in his Island Life, 1S76. 

 ' See note mider OphrynoptLt ? dentifrom. 



