Nemiieks.] BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 149 



gradually shorlt-r, fiiiL-ly and towards the apex more obsoletely punctate, 

 the second to the fourth with tlie epifjleurae acutely inflexed. The ^ has 

 the antennae rather shorter tiian the body, apically sub-attenuate, with the 

 joints not discreted ; its mandibles and legs black, the latter with the 

 anterior knees and tibiae testaceous, the hind ones at the apex and a dot 

 near the base infuscate. 



Professor Thomson named specimens of this Swedish species (Trans. 

 Ent. Soc. 1SS6, p. 339), taken in the vicinity of Norwich by Bridgman. 



32. similis, G/nel. 



Ichneumon similis, Gmel. S. N. i. 2720, ? . Hemileh's similis, (Jr. I. E. ii. 793, 

 excll. varr. I tV ? 2 ; Ratz Ichn. d. Forst. i. 150; Tascli. Zeits. Ges. Nat. 1S65, p. 123, 

 ? <? (nee Thorns.). Var. //. nens. Hart. Jahresb. ; </. Kalz. Ichn. d. Forst. i. 151. 



A black, piceous or sometimes even testaceous species. Head with 

 the palpi and mandibles flavous, and labrum red ; clypeus not entirely 

 discreted. Antennae of ^ stout and attenuate, nearly as long as the 

 body, with the scape stramineous beneath and flagellar joints discreted ; 

 of $ normal, rather longer than half the body, with the two basal joints 

 rufescent, the sixth and following ferrugineous, beneath. Thorax gibbous ; 

 metathorax chiefly longitudinally rugose ; areola entire, sub-glabrous, 

 transverse and broadest basally ; apophyses distinct though very short ; 

 metapleurae with white pubescence. Abdomen piceous-black, of $ 

 narrower than the thorax, with the central segments parallel-sided, the 

 basal aciculate and very slightly explanate with the post-petiole rather 

 longer than broad and twice broader than the petiole ; of ? ovate and 

 as broad as the thorax, with the petiole narrow and parallel -sided and 

 spiracles hardly projecting ; post-petiole gradually explanate to the apex 

 and densely aciculate ; terebra half the length of the abdomen. Legs 

 normal, testaceous ; anterior trochanters of c^ stramineous ; hind legs 

 with the coxae broadly black basally, apices of their femora and tibiae 

 sometimes infuscate. Wings ample, hyaline ; stigma pale j)iceous, radix 

 and tegulae bright stramineous ; areolet with the external nervure obsolete 

 or entirely wanting. Length, 3-5 mm. 



I am convinced that Thomson's species under this name differs very 

 materially from that of Taschenberg. The terebra is hardly half the length 

 of the abdomen, and the antennae are not at all unusually stout, with the 

 second flagellar joint shorter than the first. 



The " Jahresberichte iiber die Fortschritte der Forstwissenschaft " 

 appears to be a very scarce periodical, and I have failed to obtain Hartig's 

 original description of //. nens at the libraries of the British Museum, Nat. 

 Hist. Museum, Royal, Linnean, Zoological and ICntomological Societies. 

 Ratzeburg says (/oc. cit.) that it differs little from //. /ulvi/^es and //. similis 

 and, especially in consequence of the infuscate posterior margins of the 

 abdominal segments, comes very close to the latter, of which he considered 

 it to be a variety. He adds that its economy is identical with that of 

 H. fulvipes, and that it had then (1844) been bred in widely differing 

 localities. Kirchner (Cat. 66) tells us that it preys to such an extent upon 

 the Microgaster infesting Jionihyx pini [Apanteles /nlvipes, ILal.] that very 

 often these hyperparasites alone emerge. 



It is, in fact, a common parasite u|)on Afiirfli:;askr cocoons, often 

 occurring as late as October, and probably hibernates in the perfect state. 



