TIIR OVIPOSITOE AS A WEAPON. 



321 



species of this genus, Ichneumon crassorlus. In this insect 

 there is a bold distinction between the two sexes, the females 

 being altogether black, with the exception of a yellow scutel- 

 lum, and the males having a broad band of orange-yellow across 

 the middle <if the abdomen. When a female of any large 

 species of Ichneumon is caught in the hands, she uses her ovi- 

 positor as a weapon of offence, by bringing its sharp point 



She cannot do any injury, for she has no 



against the skin. 



zzzr 



1. Ichneumon proteus. 2. Ichneumon crassorius. 3. Tryiilinn rutilator. 4. Crvptus 

 mi^ator. 5. Piaipla instigator. a. Tryphon, lai-va. 6. Pimpla inst:gaior, fenuile, jiro- 

 file of abdomen. c. Do., dried specimen. d. Do., seen from beneath. e. Do., abdomen of 

 male. 



poison apparatus, and the ovipositor is too feeble even to 

 penetrate the skin. She can, however, prick sharply enough 

 to cause a novice to think that she really has a sting, and to 

 release her accordingly. 



AVe now come to the genus T'lyphon, in which the tarsi of 



