British BraconicUe. . 165 



whose description includes Pygostolus. Haliday divided 

 the genus into two subgenera, as follows : — 



AntennfE of the ^ 19-, of the J 17-jomted ; claws simple Blaais. 

 Antennffi ^ J with a greater number of joints ; claws 



pectinated . . . . Gannchorin^. 



In the Synopsis at the end of Westwood's ' Intro- 

 duction,' he abandoned the character derived from the 

 antennsB, for the reason that, from this point of view, 

 one species, hastatus, belongs to Blacus in the ? sex, 

 while its (? is a Ganychovus. There remains then only 

 the pectination of the claws to distinguish Ganychorus ; 

 this by itself is no foundation for a genus, and it seems 

 better to adopt the method of Euthe and Eeinhard, who 

 recognise only the genus Blacus. Goniocormus, Forst., 

 is another artificial genus with which we may well 

 dispense. 



The species of Blacus frequent damp shady places in 

 woods, where some of the commonest occur in great 

 numbers, associated like winged ants at the time of 

 swarming ; the males dance in the air like gnats ; the 

 females are less active, and creep amongst moss and 

 herbage ; these latter may sometimes be found hyber- 

 nating. Their parasitism is rather conjectured than 

 known, but the few indications we have connect them 

 with small Coleoptera and Diptera. Some of the species 

 are most difficult to distinguish, especiall}^ in the ^ sex, 

 and I can scarcely hope that the following table will 

 always be found to apply satisfactorily. Haliday's 

 divisions were made without uniform reference to the S' 

 sex ; and Kuthe's tabular sections, though in appearance 

 complete, will be found deficient in the same respect, 

 since in many cases he possessed only females. B. longi- 

 pennis, Nees, will be omitted here, although it was 

 inserted in my catalogue on the authority of Curtis's 

 ' Guide ' ; it was not in his collection, and was unknown 

 to Haliday, and other writers since Nees ; the only 

 mention of it is in a list of Russian insects by Kawall ; 

 it is perhaps a synonym oi paganus, Hal. 



Table of Species. 



(16) 1. Wings g 2 fully developed. 

 (8) 2. Antennae 24 — 26-jointed .. .. 1. tnh<'rculat}ix,V\Q9.m.. 



(2) 8. Antennae with fewer than 24 joints. 

 TRANS. ENT. POC, LOND. 1889. — PART II. (jUNE.) N 



