So HYMENOPTERA ACULEATA. 



latter having it glabrous. Our three species belong to this 

 second division. 



Tachytes in its broader sense may be distinguished from 

 the allied genera with the mandibles emarginate beneath, 

 by having three submarginal cells in the anterior wings ; 

 it also has, as a rule, the marginal cell appendiculated ; the 

 eyes are large, and are more approximate on the vertex in 

 the (^ than in the ? , but they never meet, as in Astatus, 

 the two posterior ocelli are situated on an elevation, and 

 are flat and more or less indefinite and transverse ; the 

 second submarginal cell receives both recurrent nervures, 

 and the third is very long and narrowly produced at its 

 lower apical angle, the pronotum is short, and at a much 

 lower level than the mesonotum ; the abdomen is ovate, 

 and not petiolated, and that of the ? has a distinct 

 pygidial area ; the anterior tarsi in the ? are longly 

 pectinated. The species always prey on the larvae of 

 Orthopfera, according to Continental authorities, and Smith 

 has taken T.pectinipes "at Weybridge with a small species 

 of grasshopper." Shuckard, on the other hand, says he 

 has "frequently caught it with a small sandy-coloured 

 caterpillar." 



We have three British species. 



(2) 1. Abdomen entirely black .... unicolor. 

 (1) 2. Abdomen red at the base. 



(-i) 3. (J with the face above the mandibles silvery ; 

 ? anterior tibifB entirely black ; apical 

 dorsal valve of abdomen very long and 

 pointed pectinipes. 



(3) 4. c? with the face above the mandibles golden ; 



5 anterior tibiae yellow beneath; apical 

 dorsal valve of abdomen shorter in pro- 

 portion to its length lativalvis. 



T. unicolor, Panz. — Entirely black, head finely and 

 closely punctured, with a deep impression between the 

 ocelli ; clypeus clothed with bright silvery hairs in both 

 sexes, and also the face to above the antennas in the (^ ; meso- 

 notum slightly shining, closely and deeply punctured, pro- 



