376 Prof. Westwood's further notice concerning 



By accident the deflexed stigmal branch of the fore 

 wings of the female was omitted in fig. 37, although 

 represented in the adjoining fig. 40. 



My identification of the sexes, and indeed my know- 

 ledge of the species, was derived from Sir S. S. Saunders, 

 who kindly presented me with the specimens represented 

 in my figures, and, on carefully re-examining them, I 

 adhere to the opinion I then expressed that they repre- 

 sent the legitimate partners of a species infesting Ficus 

 indica. 



At the same time Dr. Mayer's statement as to the 

 sexes of his Ichneumon ficarius is completely confirmed 

 by the contents of a bottle received from the late Dr. 

 Thwaites, with the following note : — 



" Bottle No. 1 contains the sexes of two species found 

 parasitic in the ripe fruit of Ficus asperrima, namely, 

 (A). The large wingless males belong to the winged 

 females of bright metallic colour and with long ovi- 

 positors, these latter organs being thickened at the 

 joints. (B). The smaller (wingless) males may therefore 

 be referred to the other winged females, black, with 

 shorter ovipositors. 



" The males of A are very active, and, after cutting 

 open the fig at exactly the right time, may be observed 

 scrambling about among the florets surrounding the 

 inner wall of the central cavity, looking out for the 

 females as they escape from their little prisons, laying 

 hold of them with their jaws and strong legs, and not 

 allowing them to escape till after coitus, whieh occupies 

 but a few seconds of time ; the females then at once fly 

 away, and settle on the leaves of some neighbouring shrub 

 or tree. These proceedings I have witnessed several times 

 in this species ; the males remain mostly within the 

 central cavity of the fig, and are found dead after a 

 very few hours. I have not seen the sexes of B in 

 coitu." 



This very precise statement leaves no doubt that the 

 males of A are the legitimate partners of the bright- 

 coloured females, and it fortunately happens that Bottle 

 No. 1 contained a great number of specimens of each 

 sex of each of the two species, B being a species of 

 Blastophaga, with a male of the true Blastophagous 

 form, whilst of A the numbers of each sex were nearly 

 equal, the males being the Sycoscaptella ? 4-setosa or the 

 Ichneumon ficarius (male) of Dr. Mayer, and the females 



