262 BRITISH ICHNEUMONS [Collviia. 



1. calcitrator, Gvav. 



Ichneumon coxator, Vill. Linn. Ent. iii. 193 (?). Pucliyincnis calcitrator, Gr. 

 I. E. iii. 727; Ste. 111. M. pi. xxxix, fig. 2; Curt. B. E. 624 et Farm. Ins. 257, cf. 

 253, pi. xxxvi, fig. 6; Voll. Schets. I. pi. ii, fig. 24, (f ? . P. trichophthalnius. 

 Thorns. O. E. viii. 734, 3 ? . 



Head black with the mouth and apices of the equidentate mandibles 

 dull ferrugineous and the palpi infuscate ; vertex dull, strongly and con- 

 fluently punctate ; eyes clothed with dense and somewhat elongate 

 pilosity. Antennae pilose and not apically attenuate, infuscate with the 

 flagellum fulvous beneath. Thorax immaculate, deplanate; finely and not 

 very closely punctate ; metanotum with distinct pleural costae and a cen- 

 tral basal carina extending to its centre ; mesosternum shining and finely 

 punctate throughout. Scutellum black and apically obtuse. Abdomen 

 nitidulous and obsoletely punctate ; black with apex of the first, the second 

 and third except often a discal mark on the former, and base of the fourth 

 segments, red ; terebra about as long as basal segment. Legs black with 

 the anterior tibiae and tarsi, front femora externally and the intermediate 

 apically, red ; hind legs, especially the coxae and basal joint of trochan- 

 ters, elongate with the tibiae basally and tarsi beneath rufescent ; front 

 coxae punctate, posterior strongly nitidulous and subglabrous. Wings 

 narrow and slightly clouded ; stigma piceous, tegulae black, radix fulvi- 

 dous. Length, 5I — 9 mm. 



The colour of the abdomen and hind legs is variable, tending to red in 

 9 and black in J , which latter is slightly the larger sex. 



Curtis in his article on the depredations in cornfields of the sawfly, 

 Ct'phus pygniaetis, says " Providence has provided a remedy in a parasitic 

 ichneumon, which is actively engaged in our corn fields in the destruction 

 of the larvae of the Cephus, with which it has been found enclosed ; and 

 the parent fly must be endowed with surprising intelligence, for, as 

 ]\L Dagonet justly observes, the deposition of the egg is an operation 

 difiicult enough, if one reflect that the ichneumon has not only, like the 

 greater number of the pupivorae, to touch the skin of the larva but lightly, 

 on Avhich its progeny must be supported, but it has at first to satisfy itself 

 of the exact spot in the stubble where the larva of the Cephus is to be 

 found, so that at the same time it pierces the stalk it must reach the larva 

 which is to receive its eggs " (Notices Entomologiques, p. 40 ; quoted by 

 Curtis, Farm Insects, 256). Nothing appears to have been added since 

 i860 to our knowledge of the economy of this abundant species. 



This is the commonest of our Ichneumonidae in cultivated lands, and 

 may be constantly seen on the flowers of Hemcleum and Chacrophyllum 

 throughout the month of June, to which it is very nearly restricted in 

 England. I have seen it in mv garden at Monks' Soham as early as 23rd 



