THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XLVII.] MARCH, 1914. [No. 610 



CONTEIBUTIONS TO OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE 

 BRITISH BRACONID^. No. I. METEORIDiE. 



By G. T Lyle, F.E.S. 



(Plate I.) 



Writing in 1898, the late George Carter Bignell, to whom 

 we owe, perhaps, more of our knowledge of the British Braconidpe 

 than to any other, mentions that the number of British students 

 of the Ichneumonidae during the nineteenth century would not 

 amount to a dozen. As regards the Braconid^e, since Bignell 

 published his South Devon list in 1901,* I am not aware of 

 any literature having appeared on the subject in this country, 

 with the exception of a few scattered notes in various periodicals, 

 and Mr. Claude Morley's papers which were published in the 

 * Entomologist ' for 1906, 1907, and 1908. 



There would seem to be several reasons for this neglect of a 

 most interesting group, one being the want of a cheap text-book 

 on the subject to encourage the young student, and another the 

 fact that several authors have described new species from in- 

 sufficient material, often from a single specimen, so that where 

 species run so closely together and individuals vary so much, a 

 certain amount of confusion has arisen. The Rev. T. A. 

 Marshall, however, did much to dispel this in his excellent 

 monograph, published in the Trans. Ent. Soc. 1885-1889, and 

 even more in his three volumes on the Braconidae comprised in 

 ' Species des Hym^nopteres d'Europe et d'Algerie,' 1888-1901. 



During the past ten years I have given a good deal of 

 attention to the breeding of hymenopterous parasites, and 

 although the work has been considerable I feel that the results 

 have repaid me, as in no other way could a knowledge of the life- 

 histories of the insects be obtained. I am also much indebted 

 to various gentlemen who have been good enough to present me 

 with specimens which they have bred, often, I fear, much to 

 their disgust, and particularly to Mr. Claude Morley who has 



-■= ' The Ichneumonidse of S. Devon,' part 2, Braconidse, Trans. Devons. 

 for Advan. Sci., Lit. and Art. 



SNTOM. — MARCH, 1914. G 



