133 



colour, but in its present state nearly devoid of smell or taste ; tlius 

 corroboi'ating the statements of Azara and Auguste St. Hilaire, that ho- 

 ney is made by the wasps of South America. The insects found within 

 the nest appear to Mr. White to be scarcely referrible to any existing 

 genus ; he therefore proposes to establish for them a new genus called 

 Myrapetra, which is distinguished by the following characters. Head 

 wider than thorax : ocelli in an equilateral triangle; antenna) 12-joint- 

 ed ; mandibles long, stout, nearly parallel, 4-toothed at the tip : fore 

 wingshaving "the marginal cell extending considerably nearer the apex 

 of the wing than the third submarginal, which is dilated on the outer 

 side at the base ; second submarginal cell contracted toward the mar- 

 ginal, but has a part of the radial nervure common to both : " tarsi of 

 metapedes longer than tibiae : 1st segment of abdomen narrowed into 

 a turbinate pedicel, not quite so long as the other segments taken to- 

 gether. The species Myrapetra scutellaris of White is of a sooty 

 brown colour, with the mesothoracic scutellum and metathoracic prae- 

 scutum yellow; the wings are hyaline, with brown stigma and nerv- 

 urcs. [t inhabits South America, and there are specimens in the ca- 

 binet of the British Museum. (Annals, vii. 320 : tab. iv. fig. 1 — 7). 



Edwaed Newman. 



Art. XXVI. — Descriptions of some new species of Chalcidites, in the 

 collection of John Curtis, Esq., F.L.S. By Francis Walker, 

 Esq. F.L.S. 



Genus. — Smiera, Spinola. 



Smi. Enyo. Mas. Flava fulvo et nigro varia, caput piceum, abdo- 

 men supra nigrum, antennae picea), ala^ limpidae apice subfuscsu. 

 (Corp. long. lin. 4 ; alar. lin. 7|). 



Mas. — Corpus convexum, subnitens, hirtum, parce rude et indistincte punctatum : caput breve, transver- 

 sum, vix thoracis latitudine ; fi-ons excavata: oculi sat magni, extantes, subrotundi : ocelli approximati, ver- 

 tice triaugulum fingentes ; medius perparutQ antepositus : antennx' 13-articulatai, liliformes, compactie, dense 

 at brevissime pubescentes, thorace paullo longiores ; articull valde approximati ; articulus Imus longus, sub- 

 linearis, in frontem receptus ; 2dus brevis, subrotundus ; 3us minimus; 4tus et sequentes sublineares, usque 

 ad lOum curtantes; clava longiconica, non acuminata, articulo lOmo duplo longior: thorax breviovatus, altus : 

 prothorax brevis, trans\ ersus, postice incurvus, mesothorace angustior : mcsothoraois scutum magnum, trans- 

 versum; parapsides magnse ; suturte bene determinatie, postice approximata3 ; scutellum magnum, subrotun- 

 dum, postice bicornutum : metathorax declivis, sat magnus : petiolus gracilis, linearis, thorace brevior: abdo- 

 men ovatum, altum, compressum, nilens, fere lajve, petioli vix longitudine; segmentum Imum dorsale maxi- 

 mum, abdominis dimidium occupans, 2dum Imo paullo minus, Sum et sequentia minima; segmenta ventralia 

 dorsalibus obtecta: propedes et mesopedesgraciles, simi)lices, subfequales: metapedes maximi, nitentes, pube- 

 scentes; coxa; longissimiB ; trochanteres parvi ; femora ililatata, subtus dentibus 13 armata, Imum magnum, 

 2dura et sequentia parva subaiqualia ; tibia; arcuatas, femoribus applicatai, apice in dentem acutum products ; 

 tarsi simpUces, arliculi Imo aU Sum curtantes; ungues et pulvilli parvi: ate ampla;, pubescentes; nervus 



