12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 10/ 



4. 

 PELTASTES PINL 



Order Hynienoptera. Fam. Ichneumonldae Lat, 

 Type of the Getms Ichneumon necatorius Fab. 



Peltastes III. Ichneumon Fab., Lat. Metopius Pz. 



AntenruB filiform, composed of 60 joints and upwards, inserted 

 near the crown of the head, and equidistant from the eyes and 

 each other. (1.)* 



Clijpeus formed like an escutcheon, pointed in the centre. ( 1 .) 

 Labrum triangular, rounded in front. (2.) 

 Mandibles slightly arcuated, strong, acute, bifid near their ex- 

 tremities. (3. 3.) 



MaxillcE short, corneous, rounded, ciliated, irregular at their 

 outer edge. (4. a.) : Maxillary palpi very long, hairy, 5 -jointed, 

 first joint straight cylindric; second very large, thick, clavate ; 

 third thicker than the first and nearly as long, fourth very small, 

 fifth length of the first, cylindric. (4. b.) 



Mmtiun oblong (5.a ) : palpishori, hairy, 4-join ted, nearly equal, 

 inserted near the apex of the mentum (5.b.) Lip membrana- 

 ceous, striated, sides conniving externally. (5. c.) 



Superior wings with ihejirst submarginal cell very large, the 2 discoidal 



cells situated longitudinally one above the other. 

 Abdomen cylindric, almost sessile, composed of 7 joints in the male and 



6 joints in tJie female: (7) Under side of abdomen of male. 

 Oviduct concealed : (6) Underside of abdomen of female. 

 Tarsi with 5 joints : (8) Part of hinder leg. 



PiNi nob. 

 Black, deeply and closely punctured ; clypeus yellow 3 thorax 

 with 8 yellow spots before the insertion of the wings : 2 at the 

 base of the scutellum, which is square, bidentate, and margined 

 with yellow behind ; first and second segments of abdomen with 

 two yellow spots, the remainder margined with yellowj wings ob- 

 scure with ferruginous nervures. .\ntennae black above, ferrugi- 

 nous beneath 5 legsyellow) first pair palest: hinder thighs striped 

 black inside. 



In the Cabinet of Mr. Bentley. 



The insects of this genus, like those of the whole family, are 

 parasitic, depositing their eggs in the larvae of Lepidoptera, 

 which as soon as they hatch begin to feed upon the muscles 



• The dissections of the mouih are taken from the type of tlie genu*;, but the 

 other figures are drawn fiom t!ic sijcciea figured in the plate. 



Fig. S. — Facsimile of page from first edition. 



