Pimp/a.] BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 69 



than the penultimate. Wings normal, subhyaline with the stigma and 

 radius nigrescent, the radix and tegulae red or testaceous ; areolet triangu- 

 lar, irregular, sessile ; ner\ellus antefurca! and intercepting in the centre. 

 Length, g-13 mm. 



The form bicolor differed somewhat from the original description of this 

 species in having the size larger with the metathorax and front coxae 

 black. 



To the above description of authors 1 will add that in my two-dozen 

 specimens the eyes are hardly at all emarginate next the scrobes, the head 

 is a little broader behind them and vertically subquadrate in the J , the 

 frons in both sexes is longitudinally canaliculate in the centre and sub- 

 ele\ated below the ocelli, the mesonotum is alutaceously and finely punc- 

 tate with the notauli deeply impressed ; the metathorax deeply and 

 sparsely punctate with rufo-griseous pilosity and its often glabrous areola, 

 basally parallel-sided, is confluent with and expands apically into the 

 petiolar area, which is glabrous and nitidulous ; the basal segment is 

 subrugosely punctate and distinctly bordered laterally with basall\' strongly 

 elevated carinae, which converge and are apically distinct and parallel ; 

 the following segments are deeply and distinctly punctate throughout, 

 with their apices smoother, transversely impressed at their apical third, 

 before which the three central segments are laterally variably tuberculate ; 

 the terebra is reflexed, strongly setigerous and one fifth of the length of 

 the abdomen ; the tarsal claws are acuminate and apically nearly straight, 

 basallv sharply dentate ; the apical tarsal joint is dilated, four times as long 

 as the penultimate with elongate pulvilli ; the areolet is transverse and not 

 broad with the outer nervure, especially in the ^ , mainly pellucid ; stigma 

 nigrescent-piceous with its base and the metacarpus at its apex pale, 

 nervellus only a little antefurcal and intercepting in 9 slightly and in ^ 

 somewhat distinctly below the centre. The colouration is more extreme 

 in the ^ , which varies from having the body entirely black to the abdo- 

 men clear flavous with only the two apical segments black ; that of the 

 9 , which 1 have found the rarer sex, is more or less badious throughout 

 and paler centrally ; the metathorax is never clear fulvous, often black 

 and occasionallv badious ; the coxae are more often black or nigrescent, 

 though usually badious and rarely clear red throughout. The narrow head 

 and thorax, and elongate and dilated onychii are, however, most distinc- 

 tive. The size of my specimens ranges from 5I-11 mm. 



I possess one 9 which I do not care to describe as of more than 

 \arietal importance — var. dtplanata, nor. This has the notauli much less 

 deeply impressed, the frons less uneven, its abdomen somewhat less con- 

 vex, much more sparsely and somewhat more deeply punctate, the meta- 

 thorax apically less glabrous, the terebra slightly longer than half the 

 abdomen and the claws shorter with the basal lobes less acute ; abdomen 

 badious. In its longer antennae and terebra it approaches P. aniiulinafor, 

 from which the relative length of the tarsal joint distinguishes it. 



This species is widely distributed on the Continent, though not recorded 

 from Belgium and nowhere of common occurrence. It is evidently a 

 marsh species, since it has been bred by Boie (/.r.) from lAuainia ohsohlo, 

 and several were swept from reeds on the margin of a lake by Bohenian 

 and Holmgren in Sweden. I can find no indigenous records since Des- 

 vignes introduced it as British on the strength of specimens in Curtis' 

 collection. It is probably extremely local with us and only occurring in 

 primeval marshes. I swept four males and one female from reeds in 



