130 BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. {Polysphimta. 



Haliday indicates no locality for this species, which he probably found 

 in Ireland ; it is said to occur on the Continent from July to September 

 and there are British specimens in Desvignes' collection, though I can 

 discover no more recent records. I possess, however, several males taken 

 at Reigate in July and August, 1872, by Wilson Saunders ; both sexes in 

 Capron's collection from Shere and Piffard's from Felden in Herts. ; and 

 a male bred on i8th August, 1900, from the larval case of Fu?nea casta 

 from Epping, which more probably had been tenanted by a spider. 



8. gracilis, Holmgr. 



Polysphincta gracilis, Holmgr. Sv. Ak. Handl. 1860, n. 10, p. 32, <? ? . Var. 

 P.pallipes, Holmgr. lib. cit. p. 33 ; Thoms. O.E. xii. 1252; Schm. Opusc. Ichn. 

 XV. 1171, (f ¥ . Var. P. nigricornis, Holmgr. Sv. Ak. Handl. 1860, n. 10, p. 33, ? ; 

 Brisch. Schr. Nat. Ges. Danz. 1880, p. 114, j . 



A slender and elongate species, black or badious and somewhat shining. 

 Head not strongly constricted behind the eyes ; mouth testaceous and 

 palpi white. Antennae simple and nigrescent, with the base pale beneath. 

 Thorax (in type form) immaculate ; mesonotum nitidulous and nearly 

 glabrous ; metathorax smooth with the areola complete, dull, narrow and 

 irregular. Scutellum black. Abdomen subparallel-sided and nitidulous : 

 the four basal segments transversely impressed before the apex and the 

 second to fourth also obliquely at the base, enclosing a very determinate 

 and subrhomboidal space, but (in type form) with no tubercles ; terebra 

 (in type form) very short, with the valvulae awl-shaped. Legs some- 

 what elongate and slender, red with the trochanters, (in type form) 

 apices of the femora and the anterior coxae pale stramineous ; hind 

 coxae piceous, their tarsi and apices, as well as (in type form) an external 

 mark before the base, of their whitish tibiae infuscate ; apical hind tarsal 

 joint as long as the third. Wings hyaline, with the tegulae white and 

 stigma pale fuscous or fulvescent ; radial cell lanceolate, apically straight 

 and somewhat elongate ; first recurrent of the hind wings entire, ner- 

 vellus wanting ; its cubitus not wanting basally. Length (in type form) 

 5 — 6 mm. 



The xdaieiy pa I lid ipis, Holmgr., differs materially in having the second 

 to fourth abdominal segments with a tubercle on either side, the terebra 

 as long as one-third of the abdomen and is of smaller size ; its author 

 admits it to be very similar to his P. gracilis, but points out, in addition 

 to the above structural features, that the legs are differently coloured. 

 The variety nigriconiis agrees with pallidipcs in the tubercular central seg- 

 ments, in the length of the terebra and in point of size ; but differs from 

 it in having the legs more slender and the nietathoracic areola incomplete ; 

 and from both it and the typical form in the hardly posteriorly narrowed 

 head and the antennae entirely nigrescent below. 



Thomson simply thought it " not impossible " that P. nigriconiis and 

 P. gracilis might be varieties of P. pallidipcs ; but Schmiedeknecht has 

 unreservedly treated them as such, which the abdominal conformation 

 renders improbable. If, however, they be referable to a single species, 

 P. gracilis certainly takes priority. 



With respect to the economy of this species, the Rev. A. Matthews, of 

 Gumley, wrote to Fitch (Entom. 1882, p. 173) : — " On July 4th, 1874, my 

 brother, the Rev. H. Matthews, found a spider with a white maggot- 

 shaped larva lying across its back, between the thorax and abdomen, 



