CEMONUS LETHIFER. 1/9 



the face with a slight silvery pubescence. Thorax : the meso- 

 thorax thickly punctured at the sides, sparingly so on the disk, 

 a short impressed line on each side parallel with the epaulet of 

 the tegulse ; the scutellum slightly punctured ; the metathorax 

 rugose at the sides and behind ; at its base is a subcordate space 

 enclosed by a distinctly defined shining margin, the space ru- 

 gose ; the metathorax is thinly covered with long griseous hairs ; 

 the wings fusco-hyaline, the nervures piceous ; the legs slightly 

 pubescent, the intermediate and posterior pairs slightly spinose. 

 Abdomen very smooth and shining; the petiole rugose above 

 and curved, about the length of the first segment, with a number 

 of long griseous hairs ; the terminal segment very glossy, and 

 channeled towards its apex, which is thinly covered with 

 longish pubescence. 



Male. — Differs in having the face more silvery ; the abdomen 

 narrower, and the apex more produced and rufo-piceous, the 

 tip acute. 



This is a most abundant insect, and found in all parts of the 

 country ; it commonly burrows in dead sticks, particularly those 

 of the Bramble and Rose ; its larvae are of an orange-red, and 

 are provisioned with different species of Aphides. 



2. Cemonus lethifer. 



C. ater ; metathoracis basi spatio cordiformi, limbo laevi sed 

 summo non distincte eircumscripto. 



Cemonus lethifer, Shuck. Foss. Hym. 201. 2. 

 Dahlb. Hym. Europ. i. 254. 154. 

 Wesm. Hym. Foss. Belg. 119. 1. 



Female. Length 3^-4^ lines. — This species only differs in the 

 sculpturing of the metathorax, which has a subcordiform space 

 at its base rugose, or longitudinally rugose-striate, and enclosed 

 by a smooth shining limbus not defined at its outer margin. 



The Male only differs in having the face more silvery. 



This species closely resembles the preceding, but I consider it 

 distinct. I have frequently bred both species, and have never 

 found them intermixed : it is equally abundant with the former. 

 Shuckard, in his generic characters, says, " mandibles quinque- 

 dentate," but describes C. lethifer as having quadridentate man- 

 dibles : both species have been carefully examined with the aid 

 of a microscope, and only four teeth have been detected in the 

 sexes of both species. 



