172 ICHNEUMONID.i:. 



1 lo. Itoplectis sikkimensis, Cam. 



Pimpla sikkinumsis, Cameron, Zeits. Ilym.-Dip. 190S, p. 41 (2)- 



5 . Elack, smooth and sbiuing. Jfead witli tlie palpi strami- 

 neous. Thorax : metanotum to the lateral carimu densely white- 

 pilose and strongly, though not A'ery closely, punctate. >ScuteUicm 

 somewhat sparsely and feebly punctate. Abdomen closely and 

 strongly punctate, more obsoletely towards its apex ; terebra as 

 long as the body, with its valvulae densely clothed with black, sub- 

 elongate pilosity. Ler/s : anterior pairs pale fulvous, with the 

 coxa? and trochanters stramineous ; intermediate tarsi infuscate ; 

 hind legs red, with their coxae flavous above, their tibia3 whitish 

 above and, like tiie whole of their tarsi, black beneath. Wings 

 hyaline, with the stign)a and nervures black ; tegula) stramineous ; 

 areolet broad above, emitting the recurrent nervure nearly at the 

 base of its apical fourth ; the transverse median received shortly 

 behind the transverse basal. 



Length 9 millim. 



SiKKiM {Bingham). 



Cameron says (/. c.) that this female " comes near P. vidua. 

 Cam., which has, inter alia, the coxa) and the base of the tro- 

 chanters black." 



Genus EPIUEUS, Fdrst. 

 Epiuru.<^, Fiirster, "\"erh. pr. Rbeinl. 1868, p. 1(34. 



GexottI'E, Pimpla hrcvicornis, Grav. 



Like the last, this genus is tpo closely allied to Fimj^la (s. s.} 

 to need any detailed description. It will at once be recognised by 

 the distinctly emarginate apex of the clypeus ; the invariably 

 circular metathoracic spiracles ; coarsely and distinctly punctate, 

 and usually nitidulous, abdomen : elongately pilose terebra, which 

 rarely exceeds the strongly tuberculate abdomen in length ; the 

 obsolete metanotal areas ; black cheeks ; entire front femora of 

 the c? and the elongate thorax. 



The parasitic larvaj are gregarious and spin their dark broun, 

 papyraceous cocoons upon one another within tliat of the host, 

 Avhich is usually, though not always, Lepidopterous and often 

 a Bombycid. One species has been found by Dr. Giraud abundantly 

 in galls upon Triticum repens and is supposed to be beneficial, by 

 preying upon the small Dipteron, wliich makes the galls ; but he 

 hints that, for at least some part of its existence, the presumably 

 parasitic larva subsists upon the purely vegetable tissues of the 

 gall itself {cf. Mori., Ichn. Brit, iii, p. 88). Somewhat analogous 

 observations have been made by Cameron in the case of Epiurus 

 gallicola, Mori., which was found in the galls of the Tenthredinid, 

 Nematus viminalis, Htg., and was observed to increase appreciably 

 in size and bulk for a considerable period after finally consuming the 

 host larva ; pi'esumably this could only be effected by means of the 



