BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. 21 



genal patch and more or less of the face white. Antennae black, setaceous ; 

 compresso-dilated and white-banded in $ ; the scape white 

 beneath in (^ . Pronotum and scutellum white, c? with 

 callosities at radix and sometimes two dots on post-scutellum 

 also white.; areola small, semi-elliptic, not internally exca- 

 vated, forming a glabrous and shining plateau in the centre 

 of the villose metathorax. Abdomen broad, dull black, the 

 apex shining and obtuse ; post-petiole rugosely punctate ; 

 gastrocaeli large and deep. Legs black ; $ front tibiae 

 Anus of white internally ; c? with coxae usually, trochanters, basal 

 p /rtmnmrowi^s, j-jg^if Qf femora, of tibiae and of tarsi white. Wings clouded, 

 more especially at the apex ; stigma croceous or ferru- 



gineous ; areolet narrowed above. Length, 22-26 mm. 



At once distinguished from the remainder of the genus by its black 

 abdomen, the black silky clothing of the mesonotum, broad post-petiole, 

 and by being closely punctate throughout, as well as by the white-marked 

 legs of the male. This species is more usually placed in the genus 

 Amblyteles, but the hypopygium of the $ never quite covers the base of 

 the terebra, and the post-scutellar sulcus is very deep ; the S , moreover, 

 bears a fold on the second ventral segment. 



The larva is of the normal type ; large, fleshy, sordid white, occupying 

 the whole of its host's pupa. It is full fed, and the host entirely demolished 

 soon after the latter has effected its change to the chrysalis state. 



This species is well known as the parasite par excellence of Chaerocampa 

 elpenor. Not uncommon, in June, in marshy places about London, where 

 elpenor occurs; also found in Devonshire (Stephens); bred at Bodmin, 

 Cornwall (Nat. Journ. 1899, p. 85); captured at Cann' Wood, 7th July, 

 and bred from above host (Bignell) ; bred from Dei/ephi/a ga/ii, taken at 

 Aldeburgh, Suffolk (E.M.M. 1889, p. 455, which appears to be the only 

 record from this host). Reading, Bury St. Edmunds, Maldon in Essex, 

 Glanvilles ^Vooton ; not uncommonly bred at Sproughton, Bramford, 

 Sudbury, etc., in Suffolk, at the end of May. Bridgman does not record 

 it from Norfolk, though it is, doubtless, common in the Broads. It is 

 figured by Christ, by Donovan, at plate 478, and poorly by AN'ood, " Insects 

 at Home," 320. On the Continent it has been also bred from Smerijithiis 

 populi and Sphinx pinasiri. 



COELICHNEUMON, Thomson} 

 Thorns. O. E. xviii. 1893, 1901. 



Size somewhat large. Head with cheeks short and generally buccate, as 

 long as the base of the mandibles ; the latter stout and a little narrowed 

 towards their apices ; face with an inter-antennal tubercle ; vertical and ex- 

 terior orbits usually pale-marked. Antennae setaceous towards their apices. 

 Metathorax convex, with the basal sulcus somewhat deep ; basal area 

 distinct ; petiolar long, equilateral ; dentiparal much produced posteriorly ; 

 areola not elongate, usually sub-cjuadrate or transverse, narrowed in front. 



1 The type of Stephens' Uhnexnnon eximiiis (111. M. vii. 186) appears to be lost, and Bcrthouniieu 

 has synonymized it with Amblyteles ^taucatorius. Fab. ; but, as I have stated (E.M.M. 1902, p. 120), it 

 would appear more nearly related with Codichneumun crdatus, Grav., a species not unlikely to occur 

 with us, as it does in Belgium, ^S:c. So little, however, is at present known that it is here omitted, 

 pendinj; re-discovery. 



