172 



The present species is of very great interest fr,:nn its bear- 

 ing upon the control of hmtana by insects, the Agronivzid at- 

 tacking the seeds being one of the most significant of tlic in- 

 sects introdnced into the Hawaiian Islands from Mexico for 

 that purpose. We must consider it almost certain that it will 

 hereafter play a very restricted part, since recen.r breedings 

 from lantana berries in Honohdu give many more parasites 

 than flies. In the country districts of Oahn, apparently, the 

 parasite is as yet not so numerous and it has not yet been 

 found on the other islands. 



Mr. Pemberton and Mr. Timberlake have made prelimi- 

 nary studies of the biology of this species, not yet published. 

 Mr. Pend)erton has found that the first stage larvae are like 

 those found by him in the Opiine parasites of the fruit flies. 

 jMr. Timberlake has found that this species, like some of the 

 Opiine fruit fly parasites, may pass considerable time dor- 

 mant in the larval stage. From material collected on January 

 12, 1918, parasites emerged from January 15 to Feljruary 6, 

 and again in October. This period of dormancy will need to 

 be considered in future work in the introduction of this Agro- 

 myzid into other comitries, for not unfrequently material sup- 

 posed to have had all the insects bred out from it may still 

 contain parasites which may escape through negligence. 



Hedylus desideratus n. sp. 



Head black ; clypeus and mandibles piceo-testaccous ; antennae red- 

 dish infuscate; palpi, maxillae and labrum yellowish; thorax above dark 

 rufous or piceous, the lateral lobes usually blackish ; legs yellowish ; ab- 

 domen yellowish-ferruginous ; ovipositor sheaths black ; wings hyaline, 

 the nervures brownish. 



Head broader than the thorax, about twice as broad as long above; 

 clypeus and inner orbits with sparse white hairs and strongly punctured, 

 more sparsely so above ; vertex in front of anterior ocellus transversely 

 irregularly rugose; genae margined above nearly to the summit of the 

 eyes, a little broader below, with a single series of feeble punctures ; 

 malar space about as broad as long; mandibles separated from the cly- 

 peus by a narrow space, simple beneath ; clypeus a little less than twice 

 as wide as high, with a rounded process in the middle ; tectiform with 

 a median ridge ; eyes roundish oval, a little divergent below ; posterior 



