132 



bred by Mr. Swezej and mjself from the puparium of the 

 N'europterous Anormdoclirysa, and one by Mr. Terry from the 

 eggs of the Locustid, Brachymetopa. Another I have bred 

 freely from very rotten wet wood, which yielded otherwise only 

 Lepidopterous (Gelechiid) larvae, but in this case the host is 

 necessarily uncertain. 



The species are very difficult to determine, being variable, 

 and with extreme sexual dimorphism, so that the sexes can not 

 possibly be correlated except by breeding. Judging by the 

 bred specimens I have examined, there is no such variation in 

 the length of the ovipositor, as Ashmead allows in his descrip- 

 tions in the Fauna Hawaiiensis, and the sexes are almost cer- 

 tainly wrongly assigned in that work. I have somewhat reluc- 

 tantly described this egg-parasite of Rhyncogonus, for though 

 I am quite satisfied it is undescribed, I do not feel that the 

 material of this genus that is accessible to me for study at the 

 present time, is sufficient for a proper understanding of the 

 importance of specific characters in the Hawaiian species. 

 IsTothing is likely to prove a greater hindrance to the advance 

 of knowledge of the Hawaiian fauna than the description of 

 new forms off-hand in these difficult genera of many endemic 

 species, when one is imperfectly acquainted with the value of 

 their characters, and these can only be appreciated after study- 

 ing a comprehensive collection. The material accessible to me 

 for study and comparison is less than two hundred specimens 

 of indigenous Eupelmus and I should be very pleased to obtain 

 specimens (which are the most easily collected of all native 

 Chalcids) from the members of the Society. With a thousand 

 examples from various localities, an adequate knowledge of 

 the Hawaiian forms might be obtained and the Hawaiian 

 species redescribed to advantage. The fact that this species 

 has been bred, and the interest that attaches to it in connection 

 with Mr. Giffard's paper on the habits of Rhyncogonus hlach- 

 humi, may excuse the deficiencies, which will no doubt be sub- 

 sequently found, in my description. 



Eupelmus rhyncogoni sp nov. 



Female, metallic green, the face blue-black or purplish 

 black, the thorax and head with more or less brassy reflections 

 in parts, the abdomen usually metallic blue, green in part; 

 the scape of the antennae, all the legs including the coxae, and 

 the mesopleura are testaceous ; the scape is darker, more brown 



