110 NEMATUS OBDUOTUS. 



this black spot is often very sliglit. Possibly eurysternus is only a 

 variety of pallidiventris. 



41. NEMATUS OBDUOTUS. 

 PL XX, fig. 3, Saw. 



Nematus dbductus, Htg., Blattw., 201, 32 ; Thomson, Opus., 



626, 25 ; Hym. Scand., i, 114, 39 ; 

 Andre, Species, 176, 236; Cat., 

 19,* 116; Cam., Fauna, 35, 25; 

 Br. and Zad., Schr. Ges. Konig., 

 xxiv, 152, 135. 



Black, shining, forehead and mesonotuui finely punctured, the 

 mouth, edge of pronotum, tegulse, legs and belly greenish -white when 

 young, lacteous when old ; apex of posterior femora and tibia3, and the 

 posterior tarsi black. Wings hyaline, the costa white, stigma fuscous. 



Length 2^ 2f lines. 



Ab. a. The black line on the femora extending to 

 the middle above. 



This species differs only from N. conductus in having 

 the antennae shorter, the mouth white, and the poste- 

 rior femora with only a small black spot on the apex, 

 the anterior femora being quite white. It is also 

 somewhat smaller. Thomson considered conductus 

 to be a variety of the present insect, yet as I have 

 never bred it (often as I have reared conductus) from 

 the grass-feeding Iarva3 I prefer in lack of evidence of 

 the earlier stages of Hartig's species to regard the two 

 as good species. I have never seen the $ of obductus, 

 and have only seen a single specimen of the $ of 

 conductus. 



This insect is common, and appears during May 

 and June. The known Scotch localities are 

 Clydesdale, Eannoch, about 2000 feet up on Schie- 

 hallion, Braemar, Kingussie, Kintail, and Sutherland- 

 shire. English habitats are Newcastle (Bold), Man- 

 chester, Gloucester, and the London district. This is 

 the commonest species of the two in Scotland. In 

 England it appears to be rare. 



