250 BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. [Syzeuctus. 



Since none of our local lists contain this species, hitherto regarded in 

 Britain as a Lissonota, except Dale, who records it in his " Lepidoptera of 

 Dorset " from Lewell, Portland and Parley Heath, I conclude that it is 

 uncommon, especially as its striking appearance renders it very conspi- 

 cuous and unlikely to be passed over. I have, however, seen both sexes 

 from Shere in Surrey, in Capron's collection, and males — which are the 

 commoner sex — from Boxhill at the end of July, taken by Beaumont; Port- 

 land, on the 23rd of the same month, by Richardson ; and from the New 

 Forest, by Miss Chawner. It is said to be common in central and southern 

 Europe but rarer in the more northerly regions, though Holmgren found 

 it to frequent sandy places uncommonly in southern Sweden in July and 

 August, and Tosquinet records it in the former month from Belgium. It 

 has not been bred on the Continent, but both Mrs. Hutchinson and Big- 

 nell have raised it in Britain from Phycis Davisel/a, Newm. (Entom. 1881, 

 p. 141). Mr. E. R. Bankes has given me seven males and three females 

 which he bred together between nth and 2gth of July, 1901, from larvae 

 of the same species {Ncphopteryx genustclla, Dup.) at Corfe Castle, in Dor- 

 set. The parasitic larva appears to spin no outer web of its own, but to 

 demolish the larva of its host as soon as it has completed its cocoon, 

 wherein the parasite becomes a pupa ; Bankes sent me seven of these 

 pupae, besides three or four m situ, and each is dark red, nearly claret 

 colour, dull, smooth, cylindrical and of equal breadth at both extremities, 

 8 mm. in length and 3 mm. in breadth, and from each the imago had 

 emerged by entirely removing an operculum slightly on one side of the 

 extremity. 



2. irrisorius, Rossi. 



Ichneumon irrisorius Rossi, Mant. ii, App. 82. Lissonota irrisoria, Gr. I.E. 

 iii. 65; Tasch. Zeits. Ges. Nat. 1863, p. 281, <? ? . Syzeuctus irrisorius, 

 Schm. Zool. Jahr. 1900, p. 349 ; Opusc. Ichn. 1261 ; cf. Thorns. O. E. 

 xiii. 1422. 



Head closely and coarsely punctate, almost dull with the face a little 

 more finely punctate ; labrum subfulvous ; all the orbits broadly, and 

 generally a clypeal mark, pale flavous. Antennae filiform, shorter than 

 the body, ferrugineous and apically dull flavescent, becoming nigrescent 

 towards the base. Thorax gibbous ; a large mark on the pronotum, a 

 large triangular mark on each side on front and a spot on the disc of the 

 mesonotum, marks before and beneath the radix, on the mesopleurae, 

 and a broad and centrally explanate transverse line before the petiole, 

 flavous ; metathorax with no costae, spiracles large and elongate. 

 Scutellum and postscutellum flavous. Abdomen nitidulous and badious, 

 a little longer and narrower than the head and thorax, especially in the 

 $ ; the six basal segments flavous-margined and the first also basally, or 



