ENTOMOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



JULY. 1834.. 



Art. XXI. — Essay on the Classification of Parasiiic 

 Hymenoptera, 8fc. By A. H. Haliday, M.A. 



{Contimied from page 106.) 



Of the Ichneumones of the Second Line, (Ichneumones adsciti, 

 Essenheck.) 



The species which have been referred to the genus Aphidius 

 appear to compose a natural group, from the uniform way in 

 which the characters,- common to them all, correspond with 

 the habits of those few whose history is known from actual 

 observation. They are minute Ichneumones, each individual 

 being nourished by a single puceron ; the empty skin of this is 

 substituted for a cocoon, the larva being provided with no 

 secretion of silk, like the others of this family. Accordingly, 

 we find it solitary, devouring all the interior of its victim, and 

 attaining a proportionate bulk. The spherical figure of that 

 case adapts itself to the inflected attitude of the full grown 

 larva, and of the pupa developed from it.'* The same position 

 finally is subservient to the functions of the fly, which is thus 

 enabled to bring the borer under the direction of her sight ; 

 for, being equal or superior in size to the objects of her attack, 



" J presume that the pupae of the Chrysidas are similarly inflected. " J'ai vu 

 le Cleptes nitidule allonger beaucoup son tuyau en passant aupr^s d'une larve 

 de Tenthrede, et le pousser vivement contre elle. Quoiqu'il lui eut fallu pour 

 cela recourber son abdomen et diriger ce tuyau entre ses pattes en avant de la 

 tete, I'operation entiere fut I'affaire d'une seconde." — Le P. St. Fargeau. Some 

 of the petiolate Pteromali {Miscogasteridff, Walker) also have the pupa bent 

 double, though less completely; but these do not inflect the abdomen in ovi- 

 position. 



NO. III. VOL. II. G G 



