NO. 2293. PARASITIC CHALCIDOID FLIES— TIMBERLAKE. 135 



ing more than slightly in thickness distad, the joints usually nearly 

 equal in length except that the first one is often a little the longest, 

 the following most often but little or no longer than thick, and rarely 

 more than a half longer than thick; club solid, and strongly obliquely 

 truncate from apex to base through the shrinkage of the softer wall 

 of the inner side (by the rotation of the flagellum the truncation, 

 however, usually appears to be on the underside or even on the 

 upperside), thus producing a very acuminate, conical effect; in at 

 least two species (ajfinis and brevicauda) a slight trace of segn-entation 

 reappears as an atavistic character, in which case the club is broader 

 across the base, less conical, and truncate only to about the basal 

 third; in length the club nearly or quite equals the last thiTC funicle 

 joints combined. Mandibles rather short and robust, broad at apex 

 and tridentate, the teeth short and rather blunt {fiaminius and 

 allies), the two on dorsal or inner side separated by a shallow emar- 

 gination only, or they may be considerably longer and more acute in 

 varying degrees (species of the vicinus and cockerelli groups), the 

 middle one sometimes a little longer than the other two. Palpi 

 short, the maxillary pair four jointed, with the apical joint a little 

 the longest and slenderest and the basal joint the shortest; the labial 

 pair three jointed with the middle joint considerably shorter than the 

 other two, or sometimes two jointed with the apical joint shorter 

 than the basal. 



Thorax rather short and robust, cylindrical, not at all depressed; 

 pronotum short and arcuate, the mesoscutum twice as wide as long; 

 axillae triangular, acutely meeting, their surfaces perfectly flush with 

 the surface of the scutellum; the latter large, well elevated, triangular 

 and rather acute at apex, the sides from base to apex abruptly decliv- 

 ous; propodeum narrow at the middle, gradually widening towards 

 the sides, the spiracles small and oval, situated at the anterior lateral 

 corners. Wings large, rather wide, reaching well beyond the apex 

 of the abdomen; venation reaching about to the middle of the disk, 

 marginal vein somewhat longer than thick; the stigmal slender and 

 moderately long, nearly parallel with margm or at a very acute angle 

 with the submarginal vein, not or but little enlarged at apex although 

 not rarely attenuated towards the base; postmarginal well developed, 

 tapermg from a thick base to extreme tenuity at a point about 

 opposite the end of the stigmal vem, som.etiraes appearing either 

 soniewhat shorter or somewhat longer than the stigmal; disk of the 

 wing thickly ciliated, but not imiformly so as to appearance, the 

 basal third of the disk having the cilia transparent, and a large oval 

 area m the middle of the disk beyond the end of the stigmal vein 

 with sunilar cilia (seen most advantageously in slide mounts of the 

 wmg) ; speculum (or obhque hairless streak) narrow but distinct, run- 

 ning from the base of the stigmal vein obliquely towards the opposite 



