Obisiphaga.'] BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 6l 



till it emerged the other day." This is, I believe, the first instance of 

 Ichneumonidae preying upon the Chernetidea.^ 



[Since the above was written I have received from Mr. Robert Godfrey, 

 of Edinburgh, both sexes of this species. In these cases both sexes are 

 macropterous and have the mesonotal sulcus represented by two small 

 central additional notauli ; the ? differs in no way from the brachypterous 

 form excepting in its narrower and entirely glabrous basal segment. The 



S has the basal segment similarly sculptured, but with the sjMracles 

 slightly prominent ; in other respects it differs from the $ only in having 

 the f^agellum exactly filiform and not apically obtuse. 



The wings are somewhat narrow, resemble those of Hemileles and extend 

 to the apex of the al)domen ; areolet exactly pentagonal, with the outer 

 nervure entirely wanting ; fenestra broadly discreted and larger above, 

 extending nearly to the areolet ; stigma luteous and narrow, emitting 

 the short and curved radius from a little before its centre ; basal nervure 

 not strongly curved, Icjwer basal entire and continuous ; discoidal cell 

 strongly acute apically and extending far beyond apex of areolet ; 

 nervellus slightly post-furcal and intercepted far below centre. Length, 



$ 9 2-2^ mm. 



Mr. Godfrey tells me he took the pupae of these parasites on 15th 

 September, 1905, from nests of Obisiuni ?/iuscorum, in Fifeshire. The 



? emerged on February 19th following, and the S on the 26th of the 

 same month ; both died the day after emergence. " The date of hatch- 

 ing," Mr. Godfrey writes, "corresponds with the normal period when the 



$ Obisium is laying her eggs. These she carries attached to her body 

 during the whole series of embryonic changes, which take place before 

 the young false-scorpions are able to begin life for themselves. It still 

 puzzles me to know at what period exactly the ichneumon can get at the 

 female, for while engaged in reproduction she has herself .securely shut up 

 within a little silk-lined clay nest. The parasite must either be rare or 

 have great difficulty in finding a host, as, out of hundreds of nests of 

 Obisiufu which I have examined, only three have been noticed to have 

 parasites — taken as pupae, in April and September ".] 



CREMNODES, Fdnter. 

 Fiirst. Wiegm. Arch. 1850, p. 72. 



Head entirely glabrous. Antennae very stout ; basal flagellar joint 

 much longer than the second. Thorax stout ; metathorax oblicjue from 

 the base, with a few distinct areae ; areola obsolete, coslulae strong and 

 sharply defined. Scutellum distinct and discreted. Abdomen with the 

 basal segment linear ; the second basally very narrow and apically very 

 broad ; terebra only slightly exserted. Wings rudimentary, with obsolete 

 neuration. 



The species of this curi(nis genus differ so materially from any known 

 Hemiteles, though most closely approaching the brachypterous form of 



1 Attention may be dr.iwn in tliis connection to Hntom. 1867, p. 342, where F. Ni'win.in tells us 

 that Pructotrypti calcur, llal. (Ilyni. I?rit. i. 12, <; ?) -named by V. Walker — has been bred fr.jni 

 Litlwbiui /or/icatus. Twenty-eight larvae emerged from a single host. 



