292 BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. [Exdosks. 



twice longer than the second ; of ^ with the scape usually pale beneath, 

 of 9 \\ith eight or nine of the central joints white. Thorax narrower 

 than the head, punctate and somewhat nitidulous; of J with a line before, 

 and another transversely beneath, the radix and sometimes two pectoral 

 marks, flavous ; metathorax dorsally evenly subrugulose throughout with 

 no trace of areae nor petiolar costa ; spiracles linear. Scutellum dis- 

 tinctly punctate and black, of ^ apically nearly always flavidous or white; 

 postscutellum basally bifoveolate. Abdomen glabrous and nitidulous, 

 black ; in 9 immaculate, in J with the apex of the basal segment some- 

 times castaneous, the second and third usually mainly red, the fourth 

 black and nearly always with its base rufescent, its ventral plica pale testa- 

 ceous ; basal segment slightly curved and gradually dilated apically with 

 the postpetiole nearly twice width of petiole ; second and third segments 

 of about equal length ; terebra half length of basal segment. Legs slen- 

 der, pale red with the finely punctate coxae and trochanters black, or in 

 (5 witli the anterior flavidous beneath ; tarsi always red, with the three 

 central joints of the hind ones stramineous ; anterior tarsi of 9 infuscate. 

 Wings hardly clouded and not broad, with the narrow stigma rufescent ; 

 tegulae of ^ flavidous or ferrugineous, of 9 piceous ; areolet subsessile, 

 nervellus intercepted far above the centre. Length, 8 — 12 mm. 



Among several hundreds of this species, which I have bred, the varia- 

 tion is surprisingly small. In both sexes the second to fourth hind tarsal 

 joints are normally white, rarely flavous after death, and occasionally with 

 the base of the fifth concolourous ; the extent of sessility of the areolet varies 

 somewhat and it is sometimes subpetiolate ; the nervelet is also of varia- 

 ble length and often obsolete. The ^ has the scutellum usually flavous 

 at its apex, sometimes the apical half or the whole scutellum except its 

 base is flavous, at others it is subobsoletely binotated with flavous at its 

 extreme apex or entirely black ; the antennae, A\'hich normally bear no 

 pale central band, occasionally exhibit more or less distinct traces of one 

 and very rarely the band is quite evident ; the mesonotum is laterally 

 flavous in typical examples, but sometimes more or less castaneous, this 

 colour reduced to mere dots or rarely entirely wanting ; the mesopleurae, 

 generally in part flavous, are sometimes immaculate ; the pronotum is 

 occasionally flavous or bimaculate ; the abdomen is never quite black, 

 though the extent of the rufescent colouration is very variable ; the femora 

 are very rarely infuscate, almost always pale at their extrenje base, which 

 is rarely quite white. The 9 varies \'ery slightly in having the usually 

 entirely black abdomen rufescent at the thyridii and apical margin in the 

 second segment ; and its intermediate femora are almost always nigrescent 

 towards their l)ase. 



It will, however, be found that the clear red basal hind tarsal joint will 

 at once distinguish this species from all others of its genus. 



