232 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



CONFIRMATION OF TRIGONALYS HAHNI, OF THE 

 HYMENOPTEROUS FAMILY TRIGONALII).E, AS 

 BRITISH. 



By Claude Morley, F.E.S., F.Z.S., Etc. 



So long ago as 1841, Shuckard described in this journal 

 (p. 122) an insect with an altogether foreign appearance, under 

 the name of Trigonalys anglicana. Whence came this type I do 

 not know, and our only subsequent reference to the name is by 

 Fred. Smith in the ' Zoologist,' vi, 1848. p. 1994, who gives a 

 good figure. Rev. T. A. Marshall, in his ' Entom. Soc. Catalogues ' 

 of 1872, duly enters the insect under this name, nor does he 

 (' Trans. Entom. Soc.,' 1872, iv, p. 264) doubt its British origin, 

 probably because he had examined four examples in the British 

 Museum. These four alone tire still there. They were captured 

 by Dr. T. C. Heysham, who died early in 1857 ('Mori. Brit. Ichn.,' 

 iv, 1911, p. vi), and whose captures are all supposed to have been 

 effected in the district of Carlisle ; but Mr. G, B. Routledge has 

 never seen this insect thereabouts. To the best of my knowledge 

 these are the only extant indigenous specimens. 



Late last year I was dehghted to receive a single beautiful 

 example from Dr. H. H. Corbett, of Doucaster, for determination. 

 This was swept from aspen bushes in Martin Beck Wood (vice- 

 county No. 63), near Doncaster, during July, 1917- Dr. Corbett 

 has most generously presented it to me, but it was not im- 

 mediately recorded before further investigation of the locality. 

 Unfortunately none occurred during 1918. 



The position of the Trigonalidpe is among the Fossors (though 

 Rev. F. D. Morice repudiated the present specimen !) in spite of 

 their 24-25 jointed antennae. It had been of uncertain location 

 till the publication of " Ashmead's Classification of the Fossorial 

 Wasps" C Canad. Entom.,' 1900-3), but in every other respect 

 they agree ut ovum ovo. The family, as far as is known, may be 

 regarded as quite small. Dalla Torre places only thirty-two 

 kinds in 1901, though entirely cosmopolitan, since these are 

 from the West Indies, North, South and Central America, Aus- 

 tralia, Philippines, Celebes, Burma and Ceylon ; one species 

 occurs in Natal and only one in Europe. The last is T. angli- 

 cana, Shuck., 1841 = T. hahnii, Spinola, * Mag. Zool.,' x. 1840, 

 p. 1, pi. liii ; but we are rapidly learning more of the family, 

 and, among others, I will mention Strand's new S. Cameroons 

 and Spanish Guinea species (' Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl.,' vi, 1912) 

 and Schulz's masterlv "Distribution of Trigonalidfe " (' Entom. 

 Tidskr.,' 1910, pp. 103-8). 



