402 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
of Dr. Coquerel is an Idarnes, and has a resemblance to the 
Podagrion, figured in Part 3, but is much smaller, has a 
much longer oviduct, and has slender hind femora. It flits 
about the outside of figs, and by means of its long oviduct it 
comes into juxtaposition with the blind inhabitants within, of 
which it is a relative, though by many removes. It, doubt- 
less, wings its way from fig to fig when full grown; but the 
succession of the other fig-dwellers is not known. The 
following species of this family have been observed in the figs 
of Ficus Indica, in Hindostan, by Sir Walter Elliot, who saw 
several other species of insects feeding on the fig-juice that 
flowed in consequence of the occupation of the Agaonide 
within. He has remarked that of the genera resembling 
some Hymenoptera and Termes, or the white ant, we have 
workers as well as males and females.” The species to which 
Mr. Walker alludes in this paragraph are Sycobia bethy- 
loides, Idarnes transiens, I. stabilis and I. pteromaloides, 
and Sycophila megastigmoides and decatamoides: so far 
as known they are all connected with figs, either as food 
or as a habitation. Mr. Walker concludes his paper on the 
Agaonide with the following observations :—“ The Agaonide 
occur in the Mediterranean region, where they have been 
used in ancient time and in modern time for caprification, a 
process which has been described by various writers. Two 
of these species have been named Blastophaga Sycomori 
and Sycophaga crassipes: the latter has a long oviduct, and 
therein resembles Idarnes. Agaon paradoxum represents 
this family in Sierra Leone; it and Blastophaga are con- 
necting links between Idarnes and Sycobia, from which they 
differ in not having prominent mandibles. Idarnes Carme 
inhabits St. Vincent’s Isle, in the West Indies, and exceeds 
the other species in the length of its oviduct. Idarnes and 
Agaon were first included in one family by A. H. Haliday. 
Paphagus Sidero also inhabits St. Vincent’s Isle, and belongs 
to the Agaonide. Cinospilus Acasta, a native of England, 
established as a genus by the names of Anthophorabia and of 
Melittobia, may be placed next to the Agaonide. It has 
been often said that the present state of one region of the 
earth, as regards its vegetation and animal life, resembles the 
much earlier state of another region, and thus the aspects of 
the Agaonide in different regions represent successive epochs 
