ENTOMOLOGICAL CABINET. 



RAPHIDIA LONDONENSIS. Leach. Stephens. 

 Curtis. 



Black, shining : head nearly triangular, slightly 

 punctured with a deep impression above the eyes : 

 antennae long filiform : clypaeus and jaws yellow : 

 thorax long, narrow and cylindrical : wings trans- 

 parent and without a stigma : legs and under part of 

 the body of a dirty yellow. 



Length of the body 3£ lines, expansion of the 

 wings 7 lines. 



Inhabits hedges near London, but is very rare. 



The larvae are described by Latrielle as very nimble 

 and voracious, living upon smaller insects and con- 

 cealing themselves in the crevices in the bark of 

 trees ; the pupae like the rest of the order have the 

 power of locomotion. The perfect insect also feeds 

 on small insects, its long moveable thorax enabling it 

 to seize its prey in any direction with great facility ; 

 and it is able to bite with considerable force with its 

 acute mandibles which are capable of great expan- 

 sion. Mr. Curtis has remarked that "the ovepositor 

 of the female is exceedingly dissimilar to those of 

 any other insects : by Latrielle's description and my 

 own observations, it appears to be formed of two 

 canals, united with a space between, being composed 

 of transverse rings, which enable the insect to propel 

 22-4 



