﻿PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION 
  

   U. 
  S. 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Vol. 
  103 
  Washington 
  : 
  1953 
  No. 
  3313 
  

  

  NOTES 
  ON 
  THE 
  BIOLOGY 
  AND 
  IMMATURE 
  STAGES 
  OF 
  A 
  

   CRICKET 
  PARASITE 
  OF 
  THE 
  GENUS 
  RHOPALOSOMA 
  

  

  By 
  Ashley 
  B. 
  Gurney 
  ^ 
  

  

  Introduction 
  

  

  For 
  more 
  than 
  three-quarters 
  of 
  a 
  century 
  wasps 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  

   Rhopalosoma 
  Cresson, 
  1865, 
  have 
  attracted 
  the 
  interest 
  of 
  hyme- 
  

   nopterists 
  because 
  characters 
  of 
  the 
  adult 
  have 
  left 
  doubt 
  regarding 
  

   family 
  relationships. 
  Although 
  the 
  family 
  Rhopalosomatidae 
  ^ 
  was 
  

   proposed 
  for 
  the 
  genus 
  in 
  1896, 
  there 
  remains 
  uncertainty 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  

   other 
  genera 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  family.^ 
  Neither 
  is 
  it 
  clear 
  

   which 
  of 
  the 
  related 
  families 
  is 
  most 
  closely 
  allied 
  to 
  the 
  Rhopalosoma- 
  

   tidae. 
  Biological 
  studies 
  of 
  Rhopalosoma 
  together 
  with 
  a 
  critical 
  

   examination 
  of 
  the 
  immature 
  stages 
  may 
  be 
  helpful 
  in 
  clarifying 
  these 
  

   matters. 
  Until 
  now 
  the 
  only 
  original 
  published 
  information 
  concern- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  biology 
  and 
  immature 
  stages 
  is 
  that 
  by 
  Hood 
  (1914) 
  . 
  He 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  a 
  larva 
  which 
  was 
  reared 
  to 
  maturity 
  and 
  identified 
  as 
  R. 
  poeyi 
  

   Cresson, 
  which 
  is 
  currently 
  referred 
  to 
  R. 
  nearcticum 
  Brues. 
  Hood's 
  

   account 
  is 
  brief 
  and, 
  while 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  good 
  general 
  indication 
  of 
  the 
  

   biology, 
  contains 
  no 
  detailed 
  morphological 
  descriptions. 
  The 
  recent 
  

   capture 
  of 
  a 
  larva 
  of 
  Rhopalosoma 
  at 
  Falls 
  Church, 
  Va., 
  has 
  given 
  

  

  ^ 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Entomology 
  and 
  Plant 
  Quarantine, 
  Agricultural 
  Research 
  Administration, 
  

   U. 
  S. 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture. 
  

  

  =" 
  Originally 
  given 
  as 
  Rhopalosomidae 
  by 
  Ashmead 
  (18&6). 
  An 
  adult 
  specimen 
  of 
  the 
  

   genus 
  has 
  been 
  illustrated 
  by 
  Westwood 
  (1874, 
  pi. 
  24, 
  fig. 
  9). 
  The 
  species 
  shown 
  there 
  is 
  

   Rhopalosoma 
  aenigmaticum 
  (Westwood) 
  of 
  Hispaniola. 
  

  

  8 
  Readers 
  are 
  referred 
  to 
  Brues 
  and 
  Melander 
  (1932, 
  p. 
  499), 
  Brues 
  (1943), 
  and 
  Krom- 
  

   bein 
  (1951). 
  

  

  228353—53 
  

  

  19 
  

  

  