British Braconidce. 236 



space. Terebra very short. ^ ? . Length, 1^ — li ; wings, 

 3i— 3^ hn. 



Var. 1. Ouly segmeut 2 at the sides testaceous. 



? Var. 2. Antennae testaceous, the apex, and scape above, 

 fuscous ; wings hyaline, basal third of the stigma, and squamulse, 

 pale ; legs, including the hind tarsi, testaceous ; hind coxse black. 

 Length, lj[ — 1^ lin. Euthe, from four specimens. 



Euthe had eight specimens, but he does not distinguish 

 the sexes. A ^ bred by me differs only in having longer 

 antennae, and more dusky wings. The difficulty with 

 this species is how to distinguish its darker varieties 

 from tiihcrcvlifera, Wesm. It appears that the latter 

 seldom has the 2d segment largely testaceous, and never, 

 perhaps, the 3d. The stigma also of tuho-ciilifcra is not 

 distinctly pale at the inner angle, but obsoletely, or 

 more generally, unicolorous. No other tangible dis- 

 tinction can be pointed out, and the safest way is to 

 breed the insects. It will then be found that mediana is 

 a solitary parasite of young larvae, and that it makes a 

 greenish-white, almost smooth, cocoon ; while tuherculi- 

 fera is only occasionally solitary, and makes grey-brown 

 cocoons, deeply ribbed from end to end. 



I have seen fourteen specimens of mediana, Euthe. 

 In addition to those bred, four were taken at Norwich by 

 Bridgman, and two or more formerly by me at Lamport 

 Hall, Northants. Eeared singly by Bignell from Tanio- 

 campa stahilis, View., and PoUa Jlavicincta, Fab.; and 

 by me in 1884 from young larvae of Cucullia verbasci, L. 

 These larvae were from 4 — 6 lines long when they pro- 

 duced each a parasite, July 8th — 13th ; the perfect 

 insects to the number of five (four females and one male) 

 appeared between July 21st and 26th. Brischke says 

 that he bred it from Mclanippc galiata, Hiib. The 

 greenish-white cocoons are naked and longitudinally, 

 but not deeply, wrinkled. 



10. Microplitis tuhcrcidifera , Wesm. 



Microgastcr tuhcrcidifcr, Wesm., Nouv. Mem. Ac. Brux., 

 1837, p. 43, <? $ (not the vars.) ; Euthe, Berl. 

 ent. Zeit., 1860, p. 128, <? ? . 

 Like the i)receding in all respects, except that the stigma is uni- 

 colorous, or very narrowly pale at the base. Abdomen black, only 

 the membranaceous sides of segments 1 — 2, and the belly at the 

 base, testaceous. ^ $ . Length, 1^ — 1% ; wings, 3^ — 3| lin. 



