Exeiastes.] BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 303 



7. fornicator, Fah. 



Ichneumon fornicator. Fab. S.I. i. 432, ? . Banclnis fornicator, Fab. Piez. 



127,?. Exctastcs fornicator, Gv.l.'E.'iW. AOA ; Holmgr. "Sv. Ak. Handl. 1858. 



n. 8, p. 150; Voll. Pinac. pi. xvii, fig. 2; Thorns. O. PZ. xxii. 2415, 3 ? . Try- 

 plion fornicator, Zett. I.L. 386. 



A large stout black species with somewhat clouded wings and elongate, 

 unicolorous antennae. Head somewhat broad behind the eyes, with ful- 

 vescent pilosity ; frons very slightly impressed and punctate ; face flat 

 and distinctly punctate; mouth produced with the apex of the shagreened 

 clypeus deflexed throughout ; mandibles subparallel-sided with the teeth 

 of equal length. Antennae filiform, apically attenuate and of ^ as long 

 as the body, of 9 somewhat shorter ; basal flagellar joint nearly double 

 length of the second. Thorax stout and gibbulous ; mesonotum distinctly 

 and evenly punctate ; metathorax rugosely punctate, strongly canaliculate 

 centrally with the areae obsolete and spiracles linear. Scutellum convex 

 and strongly punctate, black. Abdomen glabrous and nitidulous, fusiform 

 and laterally clavate, as long as head and thorax or slightly longer, black; 

 basal segment quite twice longer than broad, gradually subdilated apically 

 and punctulate laterally, with the tubercles a little before the centre ; 

 second and third rarely obsoletely badious, transverse and of about equal 

 length, with following shorter; terebra half length of basal segment or 

 one-sixth of the abdomen. Legs normal ; bright fulvous with all the 

 coxae and trochanters jet black ; hind ones longer and stouter with tarsi, 

 except usually the fifth joint, and apices of tibiae infuscate. Wings usu- 

 ally considerably clouded, with the stigma and radix piceous or ferrugin- 

 eous ; tegulae nigrescent ; areolet shortly petiolate and emitting the recur- 

 rent nervure from near its centre ; nervcllus intercepted far above its 

 centre. Length, g — 13 mm. 



This species is rendered abundantly distinct by its entirely black abdo- 

 men which rarely has the second or third segment apically castaneous, 

 the terebra nearlv half shorter than the first segment and its elongate 

 pulvilli. It is one of the largest of the genus in Europe. 



Brischke describes the cocoon as " cylindrisch, diinnhautig, glazend, 

 doppelt, schwarz." 



It is said to be very common upon the Continent in woody and grassy 

 places upon umbelliferous flowers from June to Augu.st, sometimes on 

 Angelica syhrs/ris in Sejjtember, and rare!}' found as late as the beginning 

 of October; it is a well-known parasite of A^ocliia olcracea according to 

 Van VoUenhoven, and Brischke lias bred it in Prussia from CuciiUia bal- 

 samitae. With us it appears very rare, and the only record I can find is 

 Bignell's capture of it in the Plymouth district. 1 have, however, seen 

 both sexes taken at St. Ervan, in Cornwall, by Mr. Davies in 1902, and a 

 female found at Barmouth, in Merioneth, by Mr. Donisthorpe in igo6. 



