C. A. L. SMITS V. BÜRGST, A MINUTE HYMENDPTERON. 293 



glass slide in glycerin-gelatin, an excellent mode for the 

 examination of such minute objects, so far as the observation 

 of the general outline and of detached parts are concerned, 

 the gummy solution rendering the parts more or less trans- 

 parent. The action of the glycerin-gelatin, however, seems 

 to destroy to a certain extent the colours of the insects. 

 Another inconvenience of this mode of preservation is the 

 fact that the short hairs and setae of the antennae and 

 tarsi, also the spines of the tibiae are not always easily 

 distinguishable. In the four species above named the short 

 erect hairs of the eyes are curled and bent towards the facets. 



I have been very greatly aided by Professor RlTZEMA BOS, 

 who has facilitated my investigation by adding for my 

 guidance a paper entitled : „Revision of the Aphelininae of 

 North-America", published at Washington in 1895, by L. O. 

 Howard, at present Chief, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. 

 Departement of Agriculture. 



Description of Aspidiotiphagus Schoeversi : 



$ . Head broadly rotund-triangular viewed from in front, 

 not abruptly narrowed posteriorly ; vertex produced above 

 the anterior part of the mesonotum, terminating in a point, 

 its lateral margin bordered to the posterior extremity; face 

 parallelsided, transverse ; clypeus narrow ; mandibles small ; 

 eyes pubescent, bearing large facets ; lateral ocelli equidistant 

 from each other and margin of eyes. Antennae inserted 

 near clypeus, 8-jointed ; scape long, slender ; pedicellus large, 

 longer than its apical width; funicular joints 1, 2 and 3 

 increasing in width, but about equal in length ; club distinctly 

 3-jointed, 7 and 8 subequal in length, the apical joint pointed. 



Thorax somewhat wider than head and abdomen ; para- 

 psides of mesoscutum narrow and parallel-sided posteriorly, 

 broad towards tegulae ; mesoscutellum broad, broadly rounded 

 apically, with a bristle on each side ; its scapulae longitu- 

 dinali}- elongate and extending forward to widening of the 

 parapsides. 



Abdomen about as long as thorax, broadly sessile and 

 broadly rounded at its apex, with the ovipositor slightly 

 exserted, viewed from above; spiracular hairs on apical half 

 of abdomen ver)- long. 



