GENUS XIPHYDEJA. 127 



front, the head projecting broadly behind them. Ocelli 

 in a triangle, situated on a level with the top of the 

 eyes. Antenna arising not far from the base of cly- 

 peus and a little above the lower part of the eyes ; 

 eighteen to twenty-two-jointed, second joint large, 

 curved, third joint shorter than second, fourth nearly 

 double its length, the next shorter and thinner. Clypeus 

 transverse, labrum rounded, small. Mandibles stout, 

 with three blunt, short, subapical teeth. Basal joint 

 of maxillary palpi small, second as long as the three 

 following together. These are of nearly equal length ; 

 the middle joint of labial is much shorter than either 

 of the others, the third a little shorter than first, and 

 much thicker than it. 



The prosternum is greatly elongated and incised, 

 narrowed at the insertion of the head, and as it does 

 not occupy the hollow between the pronotum and 

 mesosternum, it has great powers of movability. Above 

 it is membranous and white, the chitinous part con- 

 tracting more or less beyond the middle. It is situated 

 low compared to the pronotum, and can be retracted 

 into it to some extent. The collar is emarginate at 

 the apex. The sutures in the mesonotum are deep, 

 but not very wide. Cenchri large. Basal segments 

 of abdomen large, cleft in the middle above. The 

 sides of abdomen with an acute border. The claws 

 have a middle tooth. 



The cubital nervure is almost interstitial with the 

 cross nervure in the costal cellule ; the transverse basal 

 nearly with the transverse median and at the very end 

 of the median cellule ; the second recurrent is often in- 

 terstitial. 



There are only three European species of Xiphydria, 

 ten have been described from North America, one from 

 India, and two from the Malay Archipelago. There is 

 a South American genus Derecyrta, Smith, which 

 appears to be recognised from Xiphydria by having 

 only one radial cellule and the ovipositor shorter; 

 another has been described from Chili, which is separ- 



