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of the minute ones in Uiat paiiiculai) has double-jointed trocliauters : these joints in 

 most of the genera and species me distinctly visible, but not iiuiveisally so in the 

 group; in some species belonging; to Uie genus Exelastes,the second joint is retracted 

 within the first, and is only parily visible; the same is the case in the genus Anomalon. 

 I have carefully examined the structure of the legs of Sii)yllina, and I lind a second 

 joint distinctly visiiile, cjiiile as uuich so as in the Ichneuuionidous genus Metopius. 

 The antennie of every wasp that I have seen are geniculate, in Sibyllina they are not. 

 In addition to this, the prolhorax is of the same structure as in Ophion and Anomalon ; 

 its ocelli are large and prominent, as in those genera, whilst in the Vespidae they are 

 much smaller, and usually more sunken than prominent. Another most remarkable 

 peculiarity in the structure of Sibyllina, is the broadly-dilated tarsal joints, a character 

 I believe nowhere to be found in the Vespida;, but peculiarly characteristic of the 

 species of the genus Anomalon. The abdomen of Sibyllina has the basal segment 

 narrowed into a slender petiole; this is also characteristic of the genus Ophion and 

 Anomalon. Then again, Sibyllina is furnished with a sting, or ovipositor; its^structure 

 is precisely the same as the sting or ovipositor of Ophion and Anomalon : in fact I can 

 discover no external difference between the stings of Belonogaster, Vespa, Ophion and 

 Anomalon ; in each the sting tapers to a sharp point, and is simply a hollow tube, 

 having a groove beneath, that in the wasp being, I presume, for the purpose of convey- 

 ing poison into the wound made by piercing, and in the case of the Ichneumons for 

 conveying the egg into the victim attacked. 



" Place Sibyllina in any group of the Hymenoptera, and it will, as it were, stand 

 alone; it has little affinity that I can discover, certainly it has no strong affinity, with 

 any other known insect. But having pointed out those parts of its structure that agree 

 with the same parts in the genera Ophion and Anomalon, I shall conclude by express- 

 ing my opinion that the genus Sibyllina should be referred to the Ichneumonidte, and 

 that its closest ally is the genus Anomalon." 



Prof. Westwood thanked Mr. Smith for his careful investigation of the affinities of 

 Sibyllina, and congratulated him upon having arrived at a conclusion identical with 

 that of the American entomologist, Mr. Cresson, who had referred to the Ichneumons 

 an insect which he (Prof. Westwood) believed to be the same as Sibyllina. At the 

 same time he was scarcely prei>ared to admit that the insect is an Ichneumon. The 

 two-joiuted trochanters, upon which Mr, Smith placed considerable reliance, were by 

 no means peculiar to the Ichneumons, and if the character existed in Sibyllina, it 

 rather pointed in another diiection ; he (Prof. Westwood) however could not detect the 

 second joint, though he had looked carefully for it. Mr. Smith had not noticed the 

 diversity in the number of joints in the antennae of the sexes, twelve in the male, 

 thirteen in the female, which was very characteristic of the Aculeata. 



Tlie President suggested that Sibyllina mii^ht be the type of a group connecting 

 the Ves])ida) and Ichneumonid*. 



Papers read. 



The following papers were read: — " On the Affinities of the Genus Sibyllina of 

 Westwood," by Mr. F. Smith. (See above). 



" Descriptions of Nine New Species of BuprestidiE," by Mr. Edward Saunders. 

 Belonging to the genera Sternocera, Julodis,Catoxantha, Chrysaspis (n. g.),Psiloptera, 

 Pseudhyperantha(n. g.), Hyperantha, and Acherusia (two). 



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