123 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALL\N INSECTS. 



the tip. The female has a long ovipositor. This 

 suggests that it parasitises caterpillars clothed with 

 long hair or bristles, or larvae hidden in the wood or 

 bark of trees, such as wood-boring grubs, etc. Note 

 that parasitic wasps with long ovipositors usually 

 parasitise internally, that is, they pierce the skin of 

 the victim and lay an egg inside its body. 



The genus Phnpla or as it is more recently called 

 Echthroiuorplia is a very common ichneumon; it 

 is black with red legs and antennae, and on the 

 thorax and abdomen are whitish yellow spots. 



Rhyssa semipunctata is a reddish wasp with the 

 base of the abdomen black with a row oi 

 white dots on each side of the body. The seg- 

 ments near the tip of the abdomen are red and 

 without white dots. The ovipositor of the female 

 is long and consists of stout bristles. This wasp 

 is parasitic on many caterpillar pests. 



One genus, Bassiis, parasitises the larvae of the 

 syrphid flies, and is not therefore a friend, for the 

 larvae of some syrphid flies destroy aphides. The 

 adults of these wasps feed on the nectar of flowers 

 Life History of an Ichneumon. 

 We noticed on the leaves of a wistaria plant some 

 small white seedlike cocoons with dark patches. 

 They were about a quarter of an inch long, and 

 about an eighth of an inch wide. 



There were also cut-worm larvae of the moth 

 Plnsia feeding on the leaves of the same vine. 



One morning, about 8 a.m., we noticed a small nar- 

 row cut-worm caterpillar, about an inch long, with 

 a clear white patch at one end. On examining with 



