Megaplectes.] BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 323 



MEGAPLECTES, ^ors/er. 

 Forst. Verb. pr. Rheinl. 1S68, p. 1S6 ; locrypltts. Thorns. O. E. v. {1873), 472. 



Head not transverse ; vertex declived behind ocelli, which are nearer 

 each other than to the oblong eyes ; frons excavate, cheeks elongate ; 

 clypeus discreted and apically deflcxed, with the margin niutic and 

 broadly rounded ; maxillary palpi with second joint internally strongly 

 dilated and the apical linear longer than the penultimate ; mandibles 

 not elongate, with apical teeth of equal length. Antennae with scape 

 ovate-globose, e.xcised beyond the centre ; flagellum broadly white-banded, 

 of ? spiral, centrally incrassate and apically attenuate, with the basal 

 joint half as long again as second. Pronotum short ; epomiae distinct, 

 abbreviated above ; mesonotum declived anteriorly, notauli reaching to 

 its centre ; metathorax with basal area transverse and narrowed behind ; 

 areola nearly pentagonal with lateral costae sub- complete, costula and 

 costella obsolete ; apophyses distinct and obtuse ; spiracles oblong. 

 Scutelluni with basal foveae deeply impressed. Abdomen fusiform ; basal 

 segment apically curved, its dorsal carinae nearly reaching the spiracles ; 

 second segment with gastrocaeli indicated, spiracles central and epipleurae 

 narrow. Legs somewhat long and slender ; tibiae mutic, tarsi setulose. 

 Upper wings with stigma linear and radial cell elongate ; areolet some- 

 what large and pentagonal, emitting recurrent nervure from its centre, its 

 sides a little convergent above ; fenestra not large, cubital nervure emitted 

 from centre of discoidal cell ; nervelet wanting, radial nervure hardly 

 inflexed apically. Lower wings with median nervure not curved ; nervellus 

 opposite and intercepted slightly below the centre. 



Only one species of this genus is known, the $ of which so closely 

 resembles Ichneumon (sensu lata) that it was placed therein by Graven- 

 horst ; and even Desvignes, who first described the ? , left it in that vast 

 genus. 



I. monticola, Grav. 



Ichneumon monticola, Gr. I. E. i. 108: Ste. III. M. vii. 127, <5 ; Desv. Cat. I, 9- 

 Cryptiis monticola, Wesm. Bui. Ac. Brux. 1841, p. 363, i ; M6m. couron. Ac. Belg. 

 1859, p. 9, 9. locryptiis regiiis. Thorns. O. E. v. 473, £ 9 (nee Tasch.) ; cf. lit', cit. 

 xii. 1236; xix. 21 15 ; xxi. 2347. 



Black, shining, with fuscous pubescence. Head and thorax immaculate. 

 Antennae of 6 with joints ten to eighteen white, and fourteen to twenty- 

 two granulate beneath ; of 9 with joints seven to fourteen white. Meta- 

 thorax pubescent, cicatrosely punctate, with distinct apophyses. Scutellum 

 black. Abdomen atrocaeruleous, becoming cyaneous towards the apex 

 and basally scabrously punctate ; basal segment deeply canaliculate, its 

 spiracles dentately ])rominent ; the second punctate and somewhat dull, 

 and the following segments nitidulous ; terebra as long as the petiole, 

 rather shorter than half the abdomen. Legs black, with apices of anterior 

 femora, their tarsi and sides of their tibiae, sub-stramineous. Wings lla- 

 vescent ; stigma ferrugineous, radix and tegulae black. Length, 18-20 mm. 



Thomson says this species is somewhat allied to /^hyxadeiion by the 

 centrally incrassate 6 antennae and the metalhoracic sculjiture. 



Stephens tells us that this fine insect a|)pears to be very rare in Ihitain, 

 and that the only examples he had seen were captured in South Wales 



Y 2 



