300 Tachinidae. 



or third and fourth segment; there is a whitish pruinose band on 

 front half of the three last segments, shifting with dark tessellations 

 according to view; the bands more or less interrupted in middle^ 

 leaving a dark middle stripe. Abdomen is black-haired, second seg- 

 ment with a pair of marginal bristles, third with one or two pairs 

 of discai and a pair of marginal and fourth with one or two pairs of 

 discai and a row of marginal bristles; the bristles somewhat varying 

 in number and position; ventral side with long, strong hairs. Legs 

 black. Wings somewhat brownish, especially at base and anterior 

 margin; veins blackish; apical cross-vein straight; first posterior 

 cell open or just closed, ending somewhat before apex of wing. 

 Squamulæ whitish. Halteres yellowish. 



Female. Similar; frons broader, as broad as the eye. Abdomen 

 with the lateral margins of third and fourth segment on ventral 

 side raised and pressed together, and on the posterior half of each 

 beset with short, strong spines, so that a serrated median ventral 

 keel is formed, and abdomen ending with a curved spine-like ovipositor, 

 laid up under venter. 



Length 5,5 — 9,5 mm. 



L. nigripes is common in Denmark; at Copenhagen, Damhussø, 

 Ordrup Mose, Ermelund, Dyrehaven, at Fure Sø, Hillerød, Nøddebo, 

 Tisvilde, Rørvig, Jægerspris, Ruds Vedby; on Langeland at Lohals; 

 on Lolland at Maribo, Bremersvold and Strandby; on Funen at 

 Odense; in Jutland at Sønderborg, Høruphav, Sottrup, Skeide, 

 Horsens and on Læsø, and Bornholm at Sandvig; the dates are 

 ^/e — ^/iQ. The species is very polyphagous and known as parasitic 

 on a large number of Lepidoptera^ both Rhopalocera and Heterocera, 

 and also on some Tenthredinids. With us it has been bred from 

 Calymnia trapezina, Cucullia artemisiae and scrophulariae^ Brephos 

 parthenias, Bupalus piniarius^ Dryohota protea and Tephroclystis 

 innotata, all except Bupalus not hitherto recorded as hosts for it, 

 and further we have it from an undetermined Geometrid; the spec- 

 imens bred from C. artemisiae came on ^^/g, those from Calymnia 

 and Dryohota in June and July and from Brephos on '/7. It belongs 

 to Pantel's group 7. When parasitic in Dendrolimus pini it is known 

 to hibernate as larva in the host pupa and to go out in spring and 

 pupate in the ground ; it has more than one yearly generation. 



Geographical distribution: — Europe down into France; towards 

 the north to northern Scandinavia, and in Lapland. It has been intro- 

 duced to North America. 



