BRITISH ICHNEUMONS- 163 



luiptus, Berth.) with a white band. Thorax dull, closely and evenly punc- 

 tate, black ; notauli small but distinct ; metathorax very closely and finely 

 scabrous, with three upper areae only (in $ the costulae are sometimes 

 traceable however), of which the areola is equilateral, much longer than 

 broad, with very flat costae, the basal and apical ones being obsolete, that 

 of S shorter, with stronger and more complete costae ; juxta-coxal areae 

 wanting. Scutellum flat, shining, with scattered punctures; white. Abdo- 

 men lanceolate, sub-linear, black ; of $ with segments one to three and 

 sometimes a mark on disc of fourth clear red and the seventh white ; of 

 c? more rarely with the second segment or post-petiole wholly or partly 

 red, its anus immaculate ; post-petiole smooth or obsoletely aciculate ; 

 gastrocaeli, especially in c?, deep, oblique and striate, extending to base 

 of segment, intervening space narrower than centre of post-petiole of 6 , 

 sub-striate with the thyridii lunate and red ; anus acuminate with terebra 

 distinctly exserted, of S sub-obtuse with apical ventral segment normal. 

 Legs red with coxae black and hind tarsi infuscate ; the whole legs, 

 especially of S •, sometimes mainly black; anterior femora canaliculate 

 beneath ; coxae closely punctate, simple. Wings hyaline ; stigma fulvous 

 or often in S nigrescent ; tegulae and radix piceous, former in $ anteriorly 

 white; areolet pentagonal, broad below and, in S , narrowed above. Length, 

 8i-i2 mm. 



Both sexes sometimes have the abdomen entirely, and rarely the legs 

 also, black. In all the 5 examples I have seen the femora and tibiae are 

 red, excepting two in which the former are almost entirely black ; the 

 $ nearly always has the scutellum white ; the coloration of the species 

 appears to be fairly constant. 



Moderately common, taken near London, about the end of May, and 

 in June (Stephens) ; very common in Norfolk (Bridgman) ; taken at Bick- 

 leigh, in Devon, in September (Bignell) ; Sutton, near Birmingham, S S , 

 in August and September (Bradley); Shotover, Oxford (Hamm) ; ^ $, 

 near Carlisle, in January (Routledge) ; Newport, in Midlothian, and in 

 Alfa caespi/osa, in winter, at Kirknewton (Evans) ; Hastings (Esam) ; 

 Barr, Ayrshire and Lemeytown (Dalglish) ; Essex (Harwood) ; Foxhall, in 

 Suff'olk, several $ $ already in winter quarters, beneath bark of prostrate 

 fir trees, on September 23rd (Tomlin) ; Lyndhurst, in Hants. (Adams) ; 

 Kidbrook, Oxshott and Pitlochry (Beaumont). The $ $ are extremely 

 abundant from September to April, beneath bark, moss on stumps, but 

 es[)ecially at the roots of various kinds of grasses, and appear to be much 

 less particular in their selection of an hibernaculum than are the Ichneu- 

 inones ; that they do not retreat to hibernate simultaneously is certain, 

 since I have found them upon the flowers of Angelica sylvestris and in 

 winter quarters at the same time in the autumn ; the hibernating $ ? 

 have occurred to me at Brede and Beaufort Park, near Hastings, and 

 commonly at Eoxhall, Orwell, Bentley \\'oods, &c., about Ipswich. They 

 would appear to be somewhat gregarious, since on one occasion twelve 

 specimens had formed a coterie as far in some rotten wood as they could 

 push, and carefully avoiding all damp or mouldy spots. The (^ c^ do 

 not, apparently, hibernate, are generally found upon flowers and are less 

 frequently met with ; I have only found them at Aldeburgh, Henstead, 

 Foxhall and Bealings, in Suffolk. C. motalorius preys upon reed- and 

 grass-feeding Noctuid moths ; Weston bred it from Nonagria geminipuncia^ 

 in Britain, and Boic, from Nociiia airae {Vrr. = Mt'aua arcuosa, Hw.), on 



