A. A. GIRAULT. 253 



Descriptions of North American MYMARIDiE with 



Synonymic and Otlier Notes on Described 



Genera and Species. 



BY A. A. GIRAULT. 



The Mymaridae of North America have been so long ne- 

 glected that it need not seem startling or surprising when I 

 make the statement that the following pages comprise prac- 

 tically all of our known forms the great majority of which 

 are described for the first time. This paper is based on ma- 

 terial obtained from various collections, more especially those 

 of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History, the Mil- 

 waukee Public Museum, the British Museum of Natural His- 

 tory and the United States National Museum. By far the 

 largest part of the material and that of most value was from 

 the latter collection. Museums have never had large col- 

 lections of this family ; that of our national museum, con- 

 sisting of several hundred specimens, was and is undoubt- 

 edly the largest one of the family existing within a public 

 institution, with the possible exception of certain European 

 museums (that of the Konigl. Zoologische Museum, Berlin, 

 for instance); it is the most valuble collection, however, 

 being definitely arranged and excellently preserved, whereas 

 that of other institutions is unarranged and scattered. 



I should not, however, omit one other source of material, 

 namely my own efforts. During the past several years, I 

 have brought together the largest collection of these minute 

 insects ever before obtained and in the State of Illinois have 

 found practically all of our forms represented. This collec- 

 tion combined with that of the National Museum forms the 

 basis then for whatever results are shown here. 



My own experience indicates that the genera of the Myma- 

 ridae are few but each tolerably rich in species. Some of 

 the latter are very numerous in individuals, widely distri- 

 buted, as animals obviously very successful. In one or two 

 instances, I have thought that a few of our species were 



TRANS. AM. ENT. SOC, XXXVII. 



