Hoplocryplus?[ BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 289 



From H. confector and dubiiis it may be known l)y its less cylindrical 

 thorax and shorter notauH. From //. confectot\ which it resembles in its 

 conformation, it is distinguished by the less strongly dilated post-petiole, 

 with distinct carinae, the recurrent nervure emitted from nearer the centre 

 of areolet ; by the often black ? scutellum, its broadly black anterior 

 femora, and the apex of the hind ones also black ; and by the less pro- 

 fusely pale-marked c^ head. 



The $ var. gracilis has the head entirely black, the [)ronotum white, 

 and the coxae with trochanters immaculate. 



August and September on umbels (Gr.). Common about London in 

 June and July; Salop (Steph.). Giraud writes: " Le Cry ptus gracilis est 

 parasite de chrysalides du Smerinthus (/^o/>i/li), trouvees au pied des 

 peupliers dans les environs de Paris." 



4. nigripes, Grav. 



Cryptus nigripes, Gr. I. E. ii. 523 ; Tasch. Zeits. Ges. Nat. 1865, p. 96, (J ? . 



Head immaculate ; face coarsely punctate and not centrally prominent ; 

 clypeus coarsely punctate, centrally dentate apically, not discreted, with 

 basal foveae distinct. Antennae of $ with joints somewhat short, the 

 eighth to tenth white above ; of $ black. Thorax immaculate ; meta- 

 thorax closely and deeply punctate; transverse costae entire in c?, in ? 

 the basal centrally obsolete and the apical inconspicuous ; petiolar area 

 basally produced in (? centrally; spiracles sub-circular. Scutellum apically 

 or entirely white. Abdomen black, with segments two to four entirely, in 

 i base and margin of fifth, in $ apex of first, rufescent ; 9 witb seventh 

 segment dorsally white and the third to sixth ventrally prominent ; petiole 

 laterally curved, with normal tubercles and sub-obsolete carinae ; post- 

 petiole laterally straight, dorsally convex, of ? with deep and elongate 

 punctures, of 1^ sub-glabrous ; second segment unusually coarsely punc- 

 tate ; terebra longer than half abdomen. Legs black, anterior tarsi, 

 tibiae and apices of their femora, ferrugineous ; front tibiae of $ internally 

 flavous ; hind legs not incrassate, their tarsi immaculate. Wings a little 

 clouded ; areolet quadrate, nervelet wanting ; tegulae black, radix of $ 

 dark ferrugineous, of 9 testaceous. Length, 9 mm. 



No mention of this species is made in Thomson's Opuscula, or in 

 Schmiedeknecht's paper on Cryptus, but in his Opus. Ichn. the latter 

 places it doublhilly in the present genus. Taschenberg's description leads 

 one to suppose all Ujiigitudinal metalhnracic costae to be wanting, and, 

 among the Cry/y/iiii, its quadrate areolet, dentate clypeus, and absent 

 nervelet appear to place it in IJoplocrypliis. Gravenhorst points out that 

 the female is similar to C. a//eii(orii/s, differing principally in the shape of 

 the areolet. 



The single female doing duty for this exclusively Italian si)ecies in the 

 British Museum, and upon the strength of which, iierhajts, 1 )csvigncs in- 

 troduced it as liritish, is referable to //nlirocrypfi/s bnxchyuriis, and appears 

 to be from Curtis' collection. It is not, however, typical, but has the 



U 



