THE OVIPOSITOR AS A WEAPON. 



321 



species of tliis g'eniis, Ichneumon crassorius. In this insect 

 tliere is a bold distinction between the two sexes, the females 

 being- altogether black, with the exception of a yellow scutel- 

 lum, and the males having a broad band of orange-yellow across 

 the middle of the abdomen. When a female of any large 

 species of Ichneumon is caught in the hands, she uses her ovi- 

 positor as a weapon of offence, by bringing' its sharp point 

 against the skin. She cannot do any injury, for she has no 



'XJXr 



1. Ichneumon proteus. 2. lohneumon crassorius. 3. Tryphon rutilator. 4. Cryptus 

 migrator. 5. Pinipla in>tig.ator. a. Tryphon, larva. 6. Pimpla insngator, female, pro- 

 file of abdomeu. c. Do., dried specimen. d. Do., seen from beneath. e. Do., abdomen of 

 male. 



poison apparatus, and the ovipositor is too feeble even to 

 penetrate the skin. She can, however, prick sharply enougli 

 to cause a novice to think that she really has a sting, and to 

 release her accordingly. 



We now come to the genus Tryphon, in whicli the tarsi of 



