AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



So long ago as 1903, W. T. Blanford remarked that it was 

 not proposed to proceed for the present with the publication 

 of the remainder of the Hymenoptera of British India ; but 

 considering the peculiar interest and economic importance 

 of the ICHXEUMONID^E, it was to be hoped that an account of 

 them would appear at some future time. He added that our 

 knowledge of this group was then less perfect than that of 

 the Aculeata, a statement which is still very true. In 

 January, 1908, the succeeding editor, Lt.-Ool. C. T. 

 Bingham, asked me to prepare a volume on this inte- 

 resting family ; and I have herein compiled to the best 

 of my ability, though the task of bringing into tabular form 

 genera and species described in six languages throughout 

 an extremely scattered literature has not been light. The 

 published species of Indian ICHNEUMONTD^E were computed 

 by H. Maxwell Lefroy to number two hundred and eighty- 

 eight in 1909, showing how little had been attempted in this 

 direction ; and the amount left to be done truly appeared 

 appalling from the same author's statement (' Indian Insect 

 Life,' p. 178) that " nothing is on record as to the hosts 

 of these species and the forms occurring in India are 

 practically unknown." 



What was already achieved in this direction, however, 

 proved upon investigation of the literature to be both some- 

 what extensive nearly two hundred papers bearing upon 

 the subject will be found under "Authors Consulted" and 



