T N T U ( ) D U C T I O N 



What a widn field, thoreforo, romains to be iiivestiKi>t<<l l>«!foie wo Hhall become 

 acqiiaiiitctl with tiio (>(H),(MH) or vvrii .KM),()(H) Hpocien hiii)])oh(;,1 by Messrs Kirby ami 

 SpoucM' to fxist; and how absurd doos it st'Ciii to consiib'r our systems or rather sys- 

 tem as lirmly establislied whilst so little is comparatively known. — Wkstwood, in 

 183:i 



Although (he classification of insects is in a nxn-e satisfactory condi- 

 tion than wlicn Prof. Wcstwood wrote these nieniorable words, more 

 than liirif a century ago, a fact due in great part to this Nestor of 

 entomology an<l Ins conte^nporaries, our system of ilassitication can 

 not yet be considered tlrmly established. Instead of (»()0,0()0 species 

 to deal witli, hiter estimates phice them at millions. Messrs. Sharp 

 and Walsingham in 1880 placed them at two millions; while the latest 

 authority, that of Dr. C V. Ililey, 1802, indicates that there are jjerliaps 

 1(),000,()()0 species existing on the globe. 



In these pages it is my province to treat of only a small proportion of 

 this intricate and perplexing aggregate of forms, as found in America, 

 north of Mexico, viz: those of the single family Proctotrypidie. 



The Proctotrypidie, by some authorities, are considered to be closely 

 allied to the Chalcidi(he and, in a systematic arrangement of the 

 hymenopterous families, usually follow them in our manuals and cata- 

 logues. 



I consider, however, that they have but little affinity with tho Chalci- 

 didie and that this arrangement is unnatural. They are in every re- 

 spect more closely allied to the Jlymenoptera anileata, the Ohrysididie, 

 Scoliida^, Mutillida', and Thynnidie; while in the Terebrantia, I be- 

 lieve, they approach closest to the parasitic Cynipidai {Allotriaf Eueoilaj 

 and Figites). 



In a natural arrangement, therefore, they should be placed at the 

 head of the Terebrantia; for after the removal of the group Mymarinje, 

 [which I hold w ith Ilaliday forms a separate and distinct family allied 

 to the Chalcididai,] there is no relationship with the Chalcididoe. 



With the Mymarin.ne removed, there will be no difhculty in distin- 

 guishing, at a glance, a Proctotrypid from a Chalcid. In all true Proc- 

 totrypids the pronotum extends back to the teguh-e and the ovipositor 

 issues from the tip of the abdomen, the sheaths, except in a few ab- 

 normal cases, being conjoined and forming a more or less cylindrical 

 tube or scabbard for the reception of the two spiculie and the ovii)ositor 

 proper; whereas, in all Chalcids the pronotum never extends bfick to 



9 



