124 BRITISH ICHNEUMONS. [ Promethus 


the course of ten years’ collecting ; it turned up at Barham on 2nd Sep- 
tember, 1896, at the adjacent parish of Coddenham on 14th July, 1899, 
on flowers of Heracleum sphondylium and on 25th of the same month at 
Peasenhall, also in Suffolk, on those of Daucus carota, early in the 
morning. 
PHTHORIMUS, Forster. 
Forst. Verh. pr. Rheinl. 1868, p. 162; Thoms. O. E. xiv. 1474. 
Head transverse with the face shining and subglabrous, longitudinally 
bicarinate. Antennae slender, in ? filiform and not longer than head 
and thorax, longer in ¢. Thorax gibbous; metathorax very short with 
the metanotum coriaceous, longitudinally and parallelly bicarinate, areola 
confluent with basal area; spiracles small and immaculate. Scutellum 
not convex, rarely subobsoletely flavous laterally in the centre, with its 
basal fovea simple. Abdomen sessile, basally scabrously punctate ; of g 
linear with an impressed line near base of third segment; of 9 very 
strongly compressed from the second or third segment; terebra some- 
times elongately exserted. Legs not stout, red and sometimes basally 
black, not white-marked; basal joint of hind tarsi elongate and much 
more than double length of the longer of the hind calcaria. Areolet 
present and sometimes externally bifenestrate ; basal half of second re- 
current nervure pellucid ; nervellus subopposite and intercepted distinctly 
below the centre. 
This genus is so closely allied to 7richomast’x that I am not convinced 
of its right to a distinct existence ; however, the much smaller metathor- 
acic spiracles, less elevated scutellum and simple scutellar fovea appear to 
be reliable characters, which is, I think, more than can be said of the 
presence of the areolet, though it will be noticed that the external 
cubital nervure in this genus curves below the areolet, whereas in Z7icho- 
mastix it is quite straight. The peculiarly compressed abdomen in both 
these genera will distinguish their females from the former ones. 
The elongately exserted terebra of one of our species is very remarkable. 
Both the known species were first described from Britain. 
Table of Species. 
(2). 1. Areola transverse ; temples narrow; ab- 
domen not strongly punctate .. 1. COMPRESSUS, Desv. 
(1). 2. Areola elongate; temples broad; abdo- 
men strongly punctate... .. 2. ANOMALUS, Mord. 
1. compressus, Desv. 
Bassus compressus, Desv. Cat. 91, ¢; Trans. Ent. Soc. 1862, p.220, ¢. B. 
tbaliotdes, Kriech. Ent. Nachr. 1878, p. 211, ¢. Phthorimus compressus, Thoms. 
O. E. xiv. 1474, ?; Morl. Trans. Ent. Soc. 1905, p. 430, 3 ?. 
A somewhat strongly nitidulous black species with only the metathorax 
and basal, or in ¢ two basal, segments with base of the following one, 
coriaceous. Head distinctly constricted behind the eyes. Mesonotum 
finely but distinctly and closely punctate. Mouth, centre of face, a dot 
before and line below the concolorous tegulae, and in g the whole face, 
