TRANSACTIONS 



OF THE 



AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



VOLUNIE XXXVII. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF NINE NEW GENERA OF THE 

 CHALCIDOID FAMILY TRICHOGRAMMATID^. 



BY A. A. GIRAULT. 

 (Plate I). 



The descriptive matter given here is a large part of that 

 which has accumulated during the past fifteen months while 

 preparing a revision of the family Trichogrammatidae and 

 it is desirable now to get it out of the way and to have it 

 published for other, more urgent reasons — the names of some 

 of the species are desired for other uses and the descrip- 

 tions may be delayed indefinitely by waiting for their inclu- 

 sion within the revision itself ; moreover the latter will be 

 freed of much superfluous matter. 



Most of the genera established here are undoubtedly good, 

 based on distinct, stable characters but one or two of them, 

 it seems to me, may perhaps be verging on what is called 

 splitting ; however, the value of the characters used for sepa- 

 ration in these one or two cases will most probably hold and 

 may even prove of higher value when more genera become 

 known and the stability and value of such characters more 

 definitely judgable. For the present there is pressing and 

 greater need for better definitions of species so that they can 

 be recognized, heretofore in the majority of cases impossible. 

 Thus this need, even demand, must have first consideration 

 even if we have to make at first a few genera based on so- 

 called artificial characters. These can all be abolished later 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC.,XXXVII. (1) 



