144 ^"^ YCHE [ A ugust 



be popularly known as "the false gall-makers" or Inquilines, since most of them, 

 if not all of them, are not genuine gall-makers, although often mistaken for them ; 

 nor are they genuine parasites, /. e. they do not destroy the genuine gall-makers ; 

 on the contrary all, with possibly two or three exceptions, are inquilines or commen- 

 sals and merely dwell, often side by side, in the galls made by other insects. Most 

 of them are bred from cynipidous galls, found on oak trees, but some are also bred 

 from galls made by other insects, Diptera, etc., occurring on the oak, willow, etc. 

 The genus Synophrus is said to be a genuine gall-maker as well as the genus 

 Rhoophilus, described from Africa and bred from a gall on Rhus ; but, judging 

 from the structural characters of these wasps I suspect both are really commensals 

 in cynipidous and cecidomyidous galls. 



Table of Genera. 



Marginal cell completely closed ......... i 



Marginal cell open along the front margin ....... 6 



1. Face, or at least the cheeks, striated, the striae usually converging towards the 

 mouth ; mesopleura longitudinally striated aciculated, rarely smooth . 3 

 Face 7iot striated, smooth, coriaceous, or punctate ; mesopleura smooth, highly 

 polished, or at least not striated. 



Second abdominal segment occupying nearly the whole surface, ^uithoui a 

 trace of a dividing suture ; sheaths of ovipositor projecting . . 3 



Second abdominal segment divided into two by a delicate, or a distinct, 

 suture, which is either vertical or oblique ..... 2 



2. Suture dividing the second segment distinct and very oblique ; extending 

 towards the base of the petiole, the first division appearing tongue-shaped, dor- 

 sally long, ventrally very short ; sheaths of ovipositor not prominent ; antennae 

 in 9 13-jointed, the third joint longer than the fourth, in ^ 15-jointed, the 

 third joint longer than the fourth, excised beneath . Euceroptres Ashmead 



(Type E. primus Ashm.) 

 Suture dividing the second segment very delicate, vertical, the first division 

 not longer dorsally than ventrally ; sheaths of ovipositor prominent, projecting ; 

 antennae in 9 12- or 13-jointed, the third joint not or scarcely longer than the 

 fourth; in J 14- or 15-jointed, the third joint not longer than the fourth, not 

 excised beneath ........ Ceroptres Hartig 



(Type C. clavicornis Hartig.) 



3. Mesonotum with the parapsidal furrows complete, distinct ; face entirely stri- 

 ated, without a smooth median elevation ; sheaths of ovipositor usually, but 

 not always prominent .......... 5 



