170 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [June, '20 



less of species, no case has come under the observation of 

 the writer in which any other species of jassid than this 

 particular Cicadula has been taken with the sac of Gonatopus 

 ombrodes attached. Perkins records G. ombrodes as reared 

 from Deltocephalus sp. at Columbus, Ohio. Farther than 

 this, no data are at present available to the writer regarding 

 the range of victims attacked by this parasite. 



The sub-family Dryininae, or Anteoninae, to which the para- 

 site under consideration belongs, is a most interesting Mutilloid 

 group of the Proctotrypidae. This group, recently has been 

 most admirably treated both from a taxonomic and biologic 

 point of view by Mr. F. A. Fenton.* Its members confine 

 their attacks to certain homopterous insects belonging to 

 the Fulgoridae, Jassidae and Membracidae. In most cases 

 the larvae of these parasites live partly within the body of 

 the host and partly within felt-like sacs that project between 

 the abdominal plates of their victims. One most peculiar 

 feature of this group of parasites is the chelate anterior tarsi 

 with which the females of nearly all the species are armed, 

 a character which, according to Ashmead, is found nowhere 

 else among the Hymenoptera. This bit of apparatus, which 

 closely resembles the finger and thumb of man or the oppos- 

 ing claws of raptorial birds, only much more viciously hooked 

 and spined, proves a most successful and formidable weapon 

 when employed in the capture of prey. And it must be borne 

 in mind that this grasping appendage is supplemented by 

 lightning-like activity on the part of its owner, making her 

 more than a match for even the nimble jassids. 



Comparatively little attention seems to have been given 

 to this group of insects until recently. In Europe certain 

 species have been given detailed study. 



It is not an uncommon thing to find a Cicadula carrying 

 two dryinid sacs, one on each side, attached to its abdomen. 

 Usually these sacs are of equal size, indicating that the two 

 eggs were deposited during the same attack. Occasionally 

 one sac is noticeably larger than the other. More than two 



*The Ohio Journal of Science, Vol. XX'III, pp. 177, 243 and 285. Xum- 

 erous figures. 



