124 BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. [Polysphincta. 



during this time that the tubercles had to play such a prominent part, 

 having to perform the work of the claspers of an ordinary caterpillar. 

 When a tubercle attached to the silken cord had to be removed, it was 

 done by withdrawing the booklets into the tubercle, when it at once 

 became disengaged and ready to make another attachment. From one 

 spiracular line to the other were rows of black dots, two on the second 

 segment and two on each of the remainder ; the centre of each was 

 occupied by a short hair. The anal segment often had a very important 

 part to perform, by being brought round to the assistance of the mouth ; 

 I first observed this while it was feeding, to disengage some internal por- 

 tion of the spider from its jaws ; afterwards it was frequently used to 

 attach the silk to some part of the cocoon when the blunt round head of 

 the larva appeared not to be able to attach the silk to its satisfaction. 

 When full-fed the lar\-a was about three-eights of an inch (lo mm.) in 

 length. I ha\-e no liesitation in saying that this larva had fourteen seg- 

 ments (counting the head as one). Cocoon shuttle-shaped, whitish and 

 thin; the movements of the larva and pupa were perceptible through the 

 thin cocoon. The perfect insect appeared on the 12th June." Bridg- 

 man, referring to this specimen, sent him to name, remarks " I have the 

 same species, given to me by iNIr. F. Norgate " who did not take it in 

 Norfolk " with the cocoon and spider-skin exactly like Mr. Bignell's." 



The only specimen I have seen of this handsome species is a female, 

 which was swept by Elliott from herbage near the Tay at Birnam in Perth, 

 opposite Dunkeld, on 20th August, 1907. 



4. multicolora, Gvav. 

 Polysphincta multicolor, Gr. I.E. iii. 119 ; Tasch. Zeits. Ges. Nat. 1863, p. 271, 

 (? ? . Zaglyptus multicolor, Schm. Zool. Jahr. 1888, p. 433. Pimpla Fairniairii, 

 Lab. Ann. Soc. Fr. 1858. p. 814, ? ; cf. Fitch, Entom. 1882, p. 172. 



Head black with the palpi, and generally two facial dots below the 

 antennae, white. Antennae infuscate with the basal joints whitish, the 

 intermediate testaceous and the apical infuscate, beneath ; of 9 filiform 

 and a little longer than half the body. Thorax gibbulous and black with 

 the meso-pleurae, -sternum and more or less of the -notum, the meta- 

 pleurae or a dot on each, red ; a line before the radix stramineous. 

 Scutellum red, with its apex and the postscutellum flavous. Abdomen of 

 (J slender and cylindrical, narrow and twice longer than the thorax, of 

 9 subconstricted at base and apex, a little longer than the head and 

 thorax, and as broad as the latter ; apices of the segments and the 

 lateral tubercles glabrous ; terebra about half the length of the abdomen, 

 with the valvulae pilose. Legs normal, pale testaceous or whitish, paler 

 and more translucent in ^ ; hind coxae and femora fulvous, apex of their 

 tibiae and of their tarsal joints, as well as a band before the base of the 

 former, nigrescent. Wings hyaline and iridescent ; radius and stigma 

 infuscate, radix and tegulae white ; nervellus distinct and intercepting 

 hardly below the centre. Length, 6 — 8 mm. 



Brischke says the metathorax is sometimes entirely black in the 9 • The 

 (J is much more slender than the 9 . whose facies resemble those of P. 

 carhonata, though the terebra is decidedly longer. 



Dr. Laboulbene's very excellent description of P. Fainnairii agrees 

 perfectly with those of Gravenhorst and Taschenberg, and the only 

 wonder is that no one has hitherto synonymised them. The former adds 

 that in his two 9 9 the apices of the cheeks were clear flavous, the 



