British Braconidce. 179 



having the claws simple ; antennaj 33-jointed ; abdomen not de- 

 curved at the extremity. Length, 2 ; wings, 3f lin. 



I have 3 old 2 specimens taken at Milford Haven, of 

 larger size, with 33-jointed antennae ; and one from 

 Nunton, Wilts, which is rather smaller ; antennae 31- 

 jointed. This last closely resembles miiricatus. 



3. Liophron ater, Nees. 



Leiopliron ater, Nees, Mon., i., 45 ; Keinh., Berl. ent. 

 Zeit., 1862, p. 335, c? ? (not of Wesm.) 



Ancylus ater, Hal., Ent. Mag., iii., 21, <? ? . 



A. excnicians, Hal., Ent. Mag., ii., 461, ? . 



5 . Smaller than the two foregoing species ; abdomen entirely 

 black. Antennae 24 — 25-jointed, scarcely longer than the body, 

 more or less rufous beneath at the base. Mouth rufo-testaceous ; 

 palpi paler. "Wings as in miiricatus. Legs rufo-testaceous ; hind 

 coxas edentate, more or less fuscous above ; claws fuscous, not 

 bifid. First abdominal segment longer than broad, gradually 

 widened from the base, which is little more than half as broad as 

 the apex ; finely aciculated ; the other segments smooth and 

 shining ; tubercles inconspicuous ; ventral segments denticulate. 

 Terebra very short, curved, its valves testaceous. $ similar; 

 abdomen narrower ; antennae longer, accordmg to Nees 25- (i. e., 24-) 

 jointed. Length, 1^ ; wings, 3 lin. 



Haliday himself (Ent. Mag., iii., 21) established the 

 above synonymy, and he is followed by Eeinhard. I 

 shall not venture to disturb this ; yet I have a difficulty 

 in explaining the fact that Nees, in describing the 

 thorax of his ater, calls it " ffiqualis," which is his usual 

 mode of indicating the absence of the mesothoracic 

 sutures. This is a character of Centistes, and of Bracon 

 lucidator, Nees, the L. ater of Wesmael, who seems to 

 have taken note of the word '* iequalis." It is possible 

 then that Bracon lucidator, Nees = L. ater, Nees and 

 Wesmael, = Centistes ; and in this case the name of the 

 species above described should be L. excnicians, Hal. 



Found among fungi in woods, but not common ; I 

 possess 4 females, one taken near St. Albans, and three 

 at Nunton.. Wilts. Nees captured the 3' ? in copula, in 

 a garden at Sickershausen, in Franconia. 



