JAPANESE HYMENOPTERA OF THE FAMILY TENTHRE- 



DINID^. 



By C. L. Maelatt, M. S., 



First Assistant Entomologist, Department of Agriculture. 



The following list of sawflieB, with descriptions of new species, is 

 based on material presented by Dr. K. Mitsukuri, of the Imperial Uni- 

 versity, Tokyo, Japan. Most of the specimens are supposed to have 

 been taken either at Tokyo or Nagasaki. The collection is a very inter- 

 esting one and contains many species which are striking from their 

 divergence from the types of the same genera in America and Europe. 

 This is notably the case with the genus Cimbex. Several species of this 

 genus present a remarkable resemblance to our Vespas, and this resem- 

 blance is without question a protective one. Unfortunately there is 

 some doubt as to the localities from which the specimens were obtained, 

 yet nearly all of the specimens are labeh'd in Jai)anesH characters, 

 either in ancient or modern script, giving notes of locality, which are, 

 for the most part, evidently very restricted. With the assistance of 

 Dr. Philip .Jaisohn, and with the aid of a Japanese dictionary, I have 

 translated the labels on the backs of the cards on which the specimens 

 are mounted and have given them in brackets at the close of the 

 descriptions in connection with the numbers which the specimens bear. 

 These labels are of mountains, small towns or places, particular woods, 

 etc.; evidently localities well known to the collector, but not given on 

 the ordinary maps of Japan. Other labels relate to the habits of the 

 insects themselves, as, for instance, the Lophyrus is labeled as occurring 

 on pine, and one of the species of Cimhex is called the "silkworm" in 

 descrijition of its cocoon, and another, the "bee," indicating its resem- 

 blance to some wild bee. All of the specimens are mounted on large 

 tiat cards, with the wings and legs beautifully spread, atiording a very 

 ready means of studying all the structural features except those of the 

 central area of the lower surface. Most of the species in this collec- 

 tion prove to be new. This would seem to indicate that the insect 

 fauna of Japan, at least in this family, is but scantily worked uj). In 

 all twenty-six new species are described. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. XXI— No. 1157. 



493 



