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PREFACE. 



THIS volume is the second "by Col. Bingham containing 

 descriptions of Hymenopterous Insects, and includes the 

 Ants, or Formicidae, and the Chrysididse. These families 

 complete the Aculeate division of the Order Hymenoptera. 

 The first volume, comprising the Bees and Wasps, was 

 issued in 1897, and the author has devoted much of his 

 time in the intervening years to the collection and study 

 of Ants and other Insects in Burma and India. 



A single coloured plate, to illustrate the Chrysididse, is 

 added. The Ants, which are dull-coloured and generally 

 black or brown, are sufficiently represented by figures in 

 the text. 



The Ants of India, Ceylon, and Burma are numerous, and 

 they have received in recent years much attention from 

 naturalists. The Chrysididee are less well known than the 

 Ants, and it is probable that further additions may be made 

 to the list of species recorded as occurring in British India. 



It is not proposed for the present to proceed with the 

 remaining families of Hymenoptera in the ' Fauna of British 

 India/ As, however, a large number of species belonging to 

 the Ichneumonidae and other families are known, and as 

 all are of considerable interest and importance, it may be 

 hoped that an account of them will be published at some 



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