HYMENOPTERA SAW-FLIES, ETC. 197 





hind edges of the segments of the abdomen, are beset with longer 

 or shorter black bristles. The ovipositor is as long as the body. 

 The body length of the female measures from 3 "25 mm. to 3"5 mm. 

 ( = roughly ^ to f of an inch). 



"'The male (fig. 192) is orange-yellow; antennae reddish-brown; 

 the pronotum has, in the middle of the front edge, a black transverse 

 patch, which is somewhat elongated behind, in streak-like fashion, in 

 the direction of the middle line, sometimes resolved into two spots or 

 reduced to two points ; the scutum of the mesonotum is reddish-yellow, 

 and provided in front with a black-brown spot, paler behind, which 

 sometimes only shows through the hind end of the pronotum more 

 or less clearly ; the bases 

 of the wings and the 

 metanotum are black ; the *" 



tarsi of the forelegs, as 

 well as the middle and 

 hind legs, are reddish- 

 yellow ; the strongly com- 

 pressed abdomen is brown- 

 ish - red above, with a 

 black longitudinal patch 

 at its base, gradually 



narrowino- behind and be- Fi S- 192. Megastigmus spermotrophus {male). 



llcuiuwiii., ueniiiu cuiu. ue (Drawn by P. J. Brown.) 



coming paler at the edges. 



Sculpture, hairing, &c, as in the female. The body length of the 



male measures from 275 mm. to 3 mm. ( = i to -| of an inch).' 



" So far as I know, the larva has not till now been described. It 

 is whitish in colour, and legless. The segments are well marked, and 

 indeed the general appearance, including the wrinkled and curled 

 form, is strongly reminiscent of a weevil grub. The marked horny 

 head of the weevil grub, however, is absent. Instead, in the mega- 

 stigmus larva, each of the two chitinised gnawing jaws is somewhat 

 sickle-shaped, the two jaws together reminding one of a pair of 

 callipers. The apex of each jaw is pointed, and on the concave side 

 is provided with marked teeth. These gnawing mouth-parts are red 

 or yellow-brown in colour." 



As regards the life-history of the insect, it of course hatches out 

 quite freely in confinement. Each infested seed contains a single 

 larva, and when the fully developed insect emerges from the seed 



