Idio/ispa.] BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 297 



apically thrice broader than basally, gastrocaeh' distinct ; terebra a Httle 

 longer than petiole. Legs somewhat elongate, black ; anterior femora 

 more or less testaceous apically or riifescent with the base alone l^iack ; 

 anterior tibiae testaceous, with ajiices sometimes externally infuscate, the 

 hind ones occasionally rufescent basally ; tarsi infuscate, of c^ with the 

 hind or posterior white-banded. Wings somewhat clouded ; radix and 

 tegulae black ; nervelet punctiform ; areolet parallel -sided and sub- 

 quadrate. Length, 5-9 mm. 



The variety nubeculatus differs in having the anus white, the femora 

 paler, etc. 



This is a very common species on the C(jntinent, and probalily also in 

 Britain. It was taken by Stephens in Shropshire as well as in Coombe 

 and Darenth Woods, in June ; Walker records it from the Isle of Man ; 

 Bridgman found it conmionly in Norfolk, and Bignell at Bickleigh towards 

 the beginning of August ; and it is recorded from the Land's End district 

 by Marquand ; the Devil's Ditch near Newmarket, at the end of June (in 

 coll. Cambs. Mus. ) ; and from Maldon in Essex by Eitch. Piffard has 

 caught it at Felden in Herts. ; Martineau at Lyndhurst, in June ; and 

 Col. Yerbury at Waterville in Ireland, in the same month. Early in May, 

 1896, I secured a female at the Abbots' Wood, Polegate in Sussex. It 

 has been bred on the Continent from Liparis salicis by Ratzeburg, and 

 from Saperda populnea by Giraud. Chitty has taken it at Deal and 

 Huntingfield in Kent, and in May at Loch Awe. I possess females from 

 Mablethorpe in Lines. (Thornley) ; Kingsdown in Kent (Sladen) ; New 

 Forest (Chawner) ; Guestling in Sussex (Bloomfield) ; and Ryde, in 

 August. 



2. obfuscator, Vill. 



Ichnetiiiion obfuscator, Vill. Linn. Ent. iii. 197. Cryptus obfuscator, Gr. I. E. ii. 

 569; Ste. 111. M. vii. 290; Tasch. Zeits. Ges. Nat. 1S65, p. 80, 9 ; cf Thorns. O. E. 

 xxi. 2356. 



Head and the slender antennae immaculate ; epistoma not prominent. 

 Thorax gibbous and black ; metathorax very short ; petiolar area nearly 

 vertical and coarsely rugose, obsoletely separated from the strongly rugose 

 metanotum ; basal area smoother ; apophyses strong and vertical. Scu- 

 tellum black. Abdomen black with second, third and apex of first 

 segment testaceous-red ; petiole elongate ; post-petiole short, laterally 

 straight and explanate, dorsally canaliculate ; terebra one fourth the length 

 of the abdomen. Legs black with front tibiae and their tarsi rufescent. 

 Wings clouded ; areolet sub-quadrate, nervelet sliort ; radix and tegulae 

 black. Length, 1 1 mm. 



Gravenhorst says the size and outline are similar to those of /. analis, 

 but that the antennae are more slender and the terebra is longer ; Thomson 

 adds that C. obfuscator probably belongs to this genus, though its inclusion 

 therein must at present be regarded as tentative, since very little ap[)ears 

 to be known of this species, which has dropped out of recent Continental 

 catalogues, and it is quite possible that Stephens was wrong in recording 

 it as having been rarely taken near London ; it is, however, also men- 

 tioned from Holgate in Yorksiiire by Wilson, and from the Hastings 

 district in the Nat. Hist. Hastings. 1 believe Chitty took this species in 

 the New Forest in June, 1893. 



