240 CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



maxillae, dilated and obtuse, feelers six-jointed ; labium 

 with the ligula very short, quadrilobed, the lateral lobes 

 very minute, feelers long, often robust, four-jointed ; wings 

 with many nervures ; podeon slender. Found in summer, 

 flying over flowers and about sand-banks, in which the 

 Sphecina have formed their burrows and provided for their 

 young. Evania, Brachygaster, Fcenus. 



Ichneumons of the second line or Braconites. Larva 

 more obese, without distinct markings and divisions ; feeds 

 often in company, on the larvae of Lepidoptera and other 

 insects. Pupa changes within the skin of the Lepidopte- 

 rous larva, or in small silken cocoons, attached to the hair 

 or body of its prey, &c. Imago with the antennae ten- to 

 twenty-jointed; mandibles short, generally bifid ; maxillae 

 obtuse, feelers six -jointed, elongate ; labium short ; ligula 

 obtuse and entire ; feelers four-jointed ; ocelli three ; fore 

 wings with fewer nervures than the following order ; hind 

 wings with still fewer ; podeon slender and short ; oviduct 

 with two protecting appendages. Inhabits grass, &c. 

 Bassus, Rogas, Alysia, Bracon, Microgaster, Microdus, 

 Sigalphus, Aphidius. 



Ichneumons or Ichneumonites. Larva elongate, with 

 the divisions of the segments clearly defined ; solitary j 

 inhabits and devours the fleshy parts of other insects. Pupa 

 changes sometimes within the shell of the pupa of the 

 Lepidopterous insects, sometimes in the ground, in a tough, 

 close, leathery cocoon, spun by the larva. Imago with 

 long filiform antennae composed of about forty joints ; man- 

 dibles short, stout, acute and bifid ; maxillae dilated and 

 obtuse, their feelers six-jointed and often very long ; labium 

 short, its ligula short and bilobed, its feelers generally four- 

 jointed ; ocelli three ; fore and hind wings with numerous 

 nervures ; podeon always slender, seldom or never elongate ; 

 oviduct generally defended by a setaceous appendage on 



