THE SPIDER PARASITES. 323 



On Plate X. Figs. 2, 3, and 6, are drawn two species of a 

 most curious little Ichneumon, which might easily be thought 

 not to be a winged creature at all. In this genus the abdomen 

 has a footstalk, and the ovipositor is short and protruded. 

 The wings are unfitted for flight. The generic, name of Pezo- 

 machus is Greek, and signifies a foot-soldier. It is given to 

 those insects because the females are unable to use their rudi- 

 mentary wings. 



At Figure 6 is represented the female of Pezomachus zona- 

 tus. The head of this species is black, and the rest of the 

 body is yellow, with the exception of two black belts across 

 the abdomen, from which the insect derives its name of zonatus, 

 or belted. 



In Pezomachus fasciatus, which is seen at Fig. 3, the female 

 is entirely without wings. Its colour is yellow, and it has a 

 single black band on the abdomen, from which it derives its 

 specific name of fasciatus, or banded. In one species, Pezo- 

 machus hemipterus, the female has very short wings with 

 black tips. They are, however, merely rudimentary, and quite 

 incapable of flight. The specific name of hemipterus^ or half- 

 winged, refers to this structure. 



The Pezomachi are parasitic on spiders, and can be almost 

 always obtained by using the sweep-net among grass and 

 bushes where the spiders' nests abound. There is a very common 

 spider, called Agelena brunnea, which makes its nest on furze 

 and grass, and then covers it with earth, so as to hide the 

 white, glittering silk of the nest itself. From these nests the 

 Pezomachus may often be hatched. In all cases, the male is 

 much rarer than the female, and the surest mode of procuring 

 it is to take a number of spiders' nests and await the exit of 

 any Pezomachi that may happen to have been parasitic on 

 them. 



One of the larger species of Ichneumons is represented on 

 Woodcut XXXI. Fig. 5. Its name is Plmpla instigator. In 

 this genus the abdomen has no footstalk, and is smooth and 

 convex, with the segments marked by tubercles. The areolet 

 is triangular, and the ovipositor is protrude^. 



The colour of this species is black, and the legs are reddish. 

 It is a wonderfully variable insect in point of size ; some speci- 



T 2 



