4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 70 



The genotypes of Syntomaspis and Callimome ( = Torymus) agree 

 in essential generic characters, and since the available morphological 

 characters and biological information do not justify the erection of a 

 new genus, I have chosen to treat the whole complex under the name 

 Callimome. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Geological. — That Callimome Spinola is not a recent group is evi- 

 denced by the fact that Brues^ records fossil remains of a specimen 

 which he assigned to this genus. Callimome hruesi, new name for 

 Torymus sackeni Brues, preoccupied by Torymus sackeni Ashmead, 

 was found in the Lower Oligocene in the Florissant shales, Colorado. 

 It is a very large species and in some respects is said to resemble 

 Callimome magnificum Osten Sacken. 



Geographical. — It is possibly safe to say that representatives of 

 this genus will ultimately be found wherever gall insects and their 

 plant hosts are abundant. This paper includes species from Alaska, 

 Canada, Mexico, West Indies, Japan, South America, and 27 States 

 of the United States. Those from South America and Japan are 

 Usted here only because they are in the National collection. 



HOST RELATIONSHIPS 



It is very evident, as may be seen from a study of the host index, 

 that the majority of the species of the genus Callimome are parasites 

 of either Hymenopterous or Dipterous gallmakers. It will be noted, 

 too, that in the specific key the genus is divided into two groups, 

 namely Group A and Group B. The species of the first group greatly 

 prefer Cynipidae as hosts, while those belonging to Group B show a 

 preference for the Itonidae. Concerning the species for which we 

 have complete data it is found that in Group A, 27 species have 

 Cynipid hosts and 10 species have Dipterous hosts. In Group B, 13 

 species were reared from Cynipid galls and 15 species from Dipterous 

 hosts. In this connection it is interesting to note, that of the species 

 of Group A, which prefer Cynipid hosts, 24 were reared from galls on 

 Quercus^; and of the 13 species of Group B, which prefer Cynipid 

 hosts, 11 species were reared from galls on Euhus or Rosa. 



The phytophagous habits of some of the species of Callimome 

 deserve special attention at this time. Five species have been recorded 

 as either wholly or partially phytophagous. Whether they have 

 inherited this phytophagous habit from the earliest ancestors, which 

 can be assumed to have been phytophagous, or whether they have 

 become phytophagous after having passed through a parasitic or semi- 



2 Parasitic Hymenoptera of the Tertiary of Florissant, Colorado. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 54, No. 

 1, p. 17. 1910. 



' This paper was submitted before the recent revision of the species of oaks by Prof. William Trelease 

 appeared and throughout the paper the old names for species of Quercus are used. 



