FAMILY ORYSSIDJ3. 137 



Family OEYSSID^. 



This family is to be known from the other Hymenoptera with sessile 

 abdomen by the fourth body-segment not being fissured, by the 

 antenna being placed below the level of the eyes and immediately over 

 the mandibles, by the anterior tarsi having only three joints and the 

 wings only two cubital cellules. 



The eyes converge above; on their outer side is a 

 sharp keel, which commences not far from their top 

 and reaches near to their bottom ; on the vertex are a 

 number of tubercles on either side around the top of 

 the ocelli. The front and clypeus form one piece, 

 without any trace of segmentation; the latter is 

 rounder at the apex, and from its edges runs a keel 

 round the outer side of the mouth and mandibles. 

 The basal joint of the antennse is oval, thick, double 

 the length of second ; third as long as the fourth and 

 fifth together, but thinner than them ; sixth as long 

 as the third, seventh a little longer than eighth, ninth 

 a little longer than third, oblique at the apex, and fol- 

 lowed by a short joint, which has a little pedicle at 

 its apex. In the # there are eleven joints, the apical 

 being conical, and the others are not so irregular as 

 in the ? . 



The mandibles are broad, thick, without teeth. The 

 maxillae at the top rounder and of one piece, leathery 

 on the outer side, thin, membranous internally ; their 

 palpi are five-jointed ; their basal joint is one-half 

 longer than the second, which is much shorter than 

 any of the others ; third a little shorter than fourth, 

 which is the longest ; fifth a little longer than the two 

 basal together, and shorter than third. Labium entire, 

 and with three-jointed palpi; their joints are thick, the 

 middle joint much the shortest. 



Thorax stout ; prosternum with a short neck, bor- 

 dered above in front of pronotum ; mesonotum with- 

 out sutures ; there is a transverse line in front of 

 scutellum ; scutellum somewhat flat, narrowed to a 

 point behind (triangular). Cenchri of normal size, 



