﻿OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



75 



the burrow of Chrysobothris, and, having reached the borer, pierce 

 the skin and consign her eggs in its body.* 



I have bred two other much larger parasites from this borer, both 

 of which belong to the large family of Ichneumons, and reach the 

 borer by means of a long sting or ovipositor. The first of these, which 

 may be called the Cherished Bracon is an undescribed four-winged 

 fly, with the head, thorax, antennie and legs polished black, the abdo- 

 men coral-red, and the wings deep smoky-brown. It expands about 

 0.65 inch, the body has a length of 0.35 inch and the ovipositor of 0.40* 

 inch. The sting or ovipositor consists of a pale yellow, central tere- 



bra, and two stouter black sheaths. The 

 larva, after destroying its victim, spins a 

 yellowish-brown cocoon, flat on two sides,, 

 and not unlike a miniture coflBn, and the 

 perfect fly issues in Spring through the 

 burrow which the Chrysobothris would 

 have used had it been allowed to live. 

 This parasite is quite common, and though 

 I have reared it on three different occa- 

 sions, it was in each instance parasitic on 

 Chrysobothris. Specimens sent to the well 

 known Hymenopterist, E. T. Cresson, two 

 years since, were pronounced new, and as 

 bothris. HO American species of the genus have 



since been described, I append a description : 



Bracon charus, N. sp. (Fig. 13)—$ Length of body 0.35 inch; of ovipositor 0.40 

 inch; expanse of wing, 0.65 inch. Colors black and deep rufous. Head, thorax, legs 

 and antenna} polished black, the legs and sides of head and thorax with a tine grayish 

 pubescence ; trophi also black. Abdomen uniformly deep rufous. Terebra of oviposi- 

 tor pale yellow, the sheaths black and very faintly pubescent, "Wings deep fuliginous 

 with a faint zig-zag, clear line across the middle from the stigma. 

 Described from 7 2's, all breed from Chrysobothris femorata. 



The other Ichneumon-fly is somewhat larger, and may be callad 

 the Useful Labena. It is the Crypius grallator of Say, subsequently 

 described as Mesochorus fuscipennis by Brulle, and belongs to the 

 modern genus Labena Cresson. Its body is half an inch long, but the 

 ovipositor has only a length of 0.30 inch. The general color of the 

 body is honey-yellow inclining to brownish, and the wings, which ex- 

 pand nearly an inch, are clouded each with two broad, smoky-brown 



* As this Report is going through the press, my friend, A. S. Fuller, of Ridgewood, N. J., 

 sends me a number of these Chalcid maggots that have preyed ou the Chrysobothris larva, and whicht 

 he received from Prairie City, Mo. 



Bracon charus :— Parasite of Chryso- 



