Order 9. HY^IENOPTERA. 585 



THE SECOND FAMILY OF THE HYMENOPTERA,— 



The Pupivora, — 



Has the al3domen attached to the thorax by a small portion only of its transverse diameter, and often 

 by a slender peduncle, so that its mode of insertion is verj' distinct, and it is easily bent over the thorax. 

 The females are armed with a borer, winch serves them as an oviduct. 



The larvae are footless gi-ubs, and are, for the most part, parasites, and caruiTorous. 



I divide them into six tribes. 



The first tribe, Evaxiales, Latr., has the wings veined, and the superior, at least, areolated ; the 

 antennae, filiform or setaceous, l3-or 14-jointed ; the mandibles toothed internally ; the maxillary palpi 

 6-jointed, and the labial 4-jointed ; the abdotnen implanted high on. the thorax, and often betieath the 

 Scutellum, with the ovipositor generally exserted, and composed of three threads. This tribe may be 

 formed into a single genus, 



FCENUS. 



Evania, Latr., has the ovipositor internal, the antennae elbowed, and the abdomen very rainufe, compressed, 

 pedunculated, and attached at the upper and posterior extremity of the thorax, close to the scutellum. \_E. appen- 

 digaster, Latr., a small species, regarded as parasitic upon the Cockroach.] 



Pelecinits, Latr., has the abdomen sometimes very much elongated, filiform, and aTcMed, sometimes narrowed 

 gradually towards the base and terminated in a club ; the posterior tibiae are thickened, and the ovipositor not 

 exserted. [Singular American insects.] 



Faenus, Fabr., has the ovipositor long, exserted, aad formed of three long and equal threads, and the abdomen 

 and posterior tibiae clavate, and the antennae filiform. [Tivo British species.] 



AuJacus, Jur., has the abdomen compressed, the tibiae slender, and the antennae setaceous. [Several continental 

 and American insects.] 



Paxylloma, Brebisson, has the abdomen sickle-shaped. [This genus is arranged by subsequent authors 

 amoi^st the Ichneumones adsciti. Latreille had noticed its great relation with Ophion. P. buccata, the type, 

 bas occurred in this country.] 



The second tribe, the Ichneumonides, have the wings also veined, the superior always exhibiting 

 in the disc perfect or closed cells ; the abdomen is aifixed between the two hind feet ; the antennae are 

 generally fihform or setaceous, (verj' rarely clavate,) vibratile, and composed of a great number of 

 joints (16 at least). In the majority the mandibles have no tooth on the inside, and are terminated 

 in a bifid tooth. The maxillary palpi are always apparent, or prominent, and have mostly only five 

 joints. The ovipositor is composed of three threads. 



This tribe embraces nearly the whole of the genus 



Ichneumon, Linn., — 

 Wliich destroy the progeny of Lepidopterous insects, so injurious to the agriculturist, under the form 

 of Caterpillars, in the same manner as the Ichneumon quadruped was supposed to destroy the Croco- 

 dile, by depositing its eggs in its entrails. 



The old authors named these insects Mmcm tripiles, on account of the three threads of the 

 ovipositor ; and Muscce vibrantes, because they continually vibrate their antennae, which are often 

 curved, with a white or yellow ring in the middle. They have long maxillary palpi, nearly setaceous, 

 5- or 6-jointed, the labial being shorter, and 3- or 4-jointed. The tonguelet is generally entire, or 

 simply emarginate. The body has generally a narrow and elongated or linear form, with the ovipositor 

 sometimes exterior and like a tail, and sometim.es very short, and hidden in the interior of the abdo- 

 men, which is terminated in a point, whereas it is thickened and obliquely truncate in those which 

 have the ovipositor exposed. Of the three pieces of which it is composed the middle piece is the only 

 part which penetrates into the body, in which the eggs are deposited ; its tip is often slit like the point 

 of a pen. The females, when ready to deposit their eggs, run or fly about in order to discover the 

 larvae, pupae, or eggs of insects, and even of Spiders, Plant Lice, &c., destined to receive the eggs and 

 to nourish the young Ichneumons, exhibiting in these searches an admirable instinct, in order to find 

 the objects of their search in their most concealed retreats. It is [in caterpillars, &c., which live] 

 beneath the bark of trees, or in their crevices, that those with an elongated ovipositor place their 

 eggs [in the manner represented in the annexed figures'] ; whilst those with a short ovipositor place 



