British Braconidce. 24:7 



7. Microfjaster connexus, Nees. 



Microgaster connexus, Nees, Mon., i., 174, ? . 



AI. consnlaris, Hal., Ent. Mag., ii., 241 ; Euthe, Berl. 



ent. Zeit., 1860, p. 158, <? ? . 

 M.dilutus, Eatz., Ichn. d. Forst., iii., 49, ? ; Bairstow, 



E. M. M., 1879, p. 116, <? . 



Black ; palpi, antermje towards the base, lateral margins of 

 segment 1, belly at the base, and legs, testaceous ; hind femora and 

 tibiae at the apex, with their tarsi, blackish ; hind coxae often 

 infnscated above ; anterior tarsi tipped with fuscous. "Wings sub- 

 hyaline, squamulai testaceous, nervures and stigma fuscous ; the 

 last with the inner angle pale only in the ? . Head in front, and 

 thorax, very thickly punctulate ; metathorax more or less rugulose, 

 carinated. Abdomen, except segments 1 — 2, smooth and shining ; 

 segment 1 twice as long as broad, with parallel sides, elevated from 

 the base to the middle, rounded at the apex, finely striolated, some- 

 times almost smooth ; 2 broader than 1, shorter than 3, also 

 striolated, its fore and hind margins curved, preserving a uniform 

 distance fi-om each other; the remaining segments have a few 

 minute punctures. Hind coxae punctulate. Terebra subexserted. 

 Valvulaventralis truncated before reaching the anus. <? $. Length, 

 H ; wings, 3^ lin. 



The antennffi of the ^ are a httle longer than those of 

 the ? , and almost entirely black, except the scape. This 

 and the next species are easily known by having the 2d 

 segment distinctly shorter than the 3d. The rufous 

 cox», bicolorous stigma of the ? , &c., combine to render 

 connexus unmistakable. 



A common parasite of Porthesia similis, Fues., and in 

 that respect resembling M. posticus, Nees. Eeared in 

 Germany by Nordlinger and Kriechbaumer. Bignell 

 has obtained several large broods of both sexes; one of 

 18 individuals hatched August 18th, having been 37 days 

 in the pupa-state ; another, of 24, occupied the same 

 number of days. In Fitch's collection are the remains of 

 another brood. Nees v. Esenbeck, who only knew the ? , 

 assigns this parasite to a different victim, Spilosoma fuli- 

 ginosa, L., and agrees with Euthe and Haliday in stating 

 that the caterpillar spins a covering for the protection of 

 the Microgasters, mixed with its own dusky hairs ; cf. Hali- 

 day, I. c, note. This can only mean that the parasites did 

 not cause the death of their victim until the latter had 

 begun to weave its own pupa-case. In the instances 



