394 



INSECTS ABROAD. 



Australia possesses many remarkable species of Ichneumon 

 Flies, one of which is the Megalyra Shuckardi, which is here 

 shown of the natural size. 



The general colour of this insect is black. The head and 

 thorax are deeply pitted or granulated, very much like the end 

 of a lady's thimble, and are variegated here and there by little 

 patches of short white hairs, the most conspicuous of which are 

 on the two lower angles of the thorax. The abdomen is smooth, 

 shining black, with the exception of the tufts of white hairs 

 which project from beneath the segments on each side, nnd are 



X y 



Fio. 191.— Megalyra Shuckardi. 

 (Black, with patches of white hair ) 



exceedingly conspicuous. Tin.; wings are dark brown in the 

 middle, and become rather paler towards the edges. 



The ovipositor of the female insect is exceedingly long, and 

 is composed of three distinct parts ; namely, the actual borer, 

 which occupies the centre, and a pair of sheaths which serve to 

 protect it when not in use. The colour of the borer is pale 

 brown, and that of the sheaths nearly black. Long as they are, 

 they are so slender that the three together are scarcely so thick 

 as a single horsehair. "When the insect has been dead for some 

 little time, the parts of the ovipositor are apt to separate and 

 to fall into a lyre-like form ; and it is in consequence of this 



