﻿249 
  

  

  NOTES 
  ON 
  AFRICAN 
  CHALCIDOIDEA.— 
  I. 
  

  

  By 
  James 
  Waterston, 
  B.D., 
  B.Sc, 
  

  

  Imperial 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Entomology, 
  London. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  descriptions 
  are 
  based 
  on 
  material 
  submitted 
  by 
  various 
  collectors 
  

   to 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Entomology. 
  The 
  types 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  species 
  will 
  be 
  

   deposited 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum. 
  

  

  Family 
  Agaonidae. 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  interesting 
  series 
  of 
  Fig 
  Insects, 
  comprising 
  both 
  caprifiers 
  and 
  inquilines, 
  

   which 
  have 
  been 
  forwarded 
  by 
  Dr. 
  G. 
  D. 
  H. 
  Carpenter 
  from 
  Uganda, 
  are 
  two 
  

   species 
  belonging 
  to 
  this 
  family 
  and 
  representing 
  respectively 
  its 
  main 
  divisions. 
  

  

  The 
  Sycophagine 
  species 
  appears 
  to 
  demand 
  a 
  new 
  genus 
  for 
  its 
  reception. 
  

   Amongst 
  its 
  many 
  noteworthy 
  features, 
  the 
  most 
  remarkable 
  is 
  the 
  extreme 
  

   development 
  of 
  the 
  sub-apical 
  spur 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  tibia 
  into 
  an 
  organ 
  comparable 
  with 
  

   the 
  appendage 
  to 
  the 
  mandibles 
  so 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  Agaonines. 
  

  

  For 
  this 
  new 
  genus, 
  the 
  name 
  Sycoecus 
  (<tvkov, 
  oIkos) 
  is 
  proposed. 
  Sycoecus 
  

   affords 
  a 
  really 
  extraordinary 
  instance 
  of 
  homoplasy. 
  The 
  tibia 
  is 
  externally 
  

   furnished 
  with 
  heavy, 
  tooth-like 
  spines, 
  which, 
  in 
  conjunction 
  with 
  the 
  flattened, 
  

   small 
  process, 
  form 
  a 
  digging 
  apparatus 
  exactly 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  mandible 
  and 
  appen- 
  

   dage 
  of 
  Pleistodontes, 
  etc. 
  In 
  these 
  instances, 
  therefore, 
  the 
  two 
  sub-families 
  have 
  

   adopted 
  the 
  same 
  device, 
  but 
  by 
  modifying 
  different 
  organs. 
  The 
  tissue 
  of 
  the 
  

   ovary, 
  etc., 
  of 
  the 
  fig 
  is 
  probably 
  first 
  dug 
  into 
  and 
  torn 
  by 
  the 
  teeth 
  and 
  then 
  cut 
  

   and 
  swept 
  aside 
  by 
  the 
  lamina, 
  which 
  is 
  in 
  each 
  case 
  movable 
  horizontally. 
  

  

  Both 
  the 
  Sycophagine 
  (a 
  few) 
  and 
  the 
  Agaonine 
  (very 
  plentiful) 
  occurred 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  species 
  of 
  fig, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  together. 
  There 
  can, 
  I 
  think, 
  be 
  no 
  doubt 
  that 
  

   the 
  Agaonine 
  species 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  genus 
  Agaon, 
  Dalm. 
  (1818), 
  about 
  which 
  little 
  

   appears 
  to 
  be 
  known 
  at 
  first 
  hand. 
  Dr. 
  Carpenter's 
  specimens 
  may 
  even 
  be 
  

   A. 
  paradoxam, 
  Dalm. 
  (Svensk. 
  Vet-Akad. 
  Handl., 
  xxxix, 
  p. 
  69, 
  1818), 
  but 
  the 
  

   thorax 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  longer 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  genotype, 
  while 
  the 
  petiole 
  and 
  first 
  abdominal 
  

   segment 
  are 
  maculate 
  or 
  banded. 
  The 
  original 
  description 
  is 
  insufficient 
  for 
  specific 
  

   determination. 
  Having 
  unsuccessfully 
  tried 
  to 
  view 
  the 
  type, 
  I 
  have 
  thought 
  it 
  

   better, 
  meanwhile, 
  to 
  separate 
  the 
  Uganda 
  examples 
  from 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Leone 
  species. 
  

  

  Ashmead's 
  table 
  (Mem. 
  Cam. 
  Mus., 
  i, 
  no. 
  4, 
  p. 
  233, 
  1904) 
  should 
  be 
  corrected. 
  

   In 
  Agaon 
  the 
  head 
  is 
  less 
  than 
  2J 
  times 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  broad 
  ; 
  the 
  antennae 
  have 
  11 
  not 
  

   12 
  joints 
  ; 
  the 
  third 
  joint 
  shows 
  a 
  distinct 
  process, 
  and 
  the 
  mandibles 
  have 
  4 
  and 
  

   not 
  3 
  teeth. 
  Agaon 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  most 
  closely 
  related 
  to 
  Pleistodontes, 
  Saund. 
  

   (Trans. 
  Ent. 
  Soc. 
  Lond., 
  1883, 
  p. 
  8), 
  but 
  the 
  latter 
  genus 
  differs 
  conspicuously 
  in 
  

   the 
  antennae 
  and 
  legs. 
  

  

  Agaon 
  fasciatum, 
  sp. 
  nov. 
  (figs. 
  1 
  and 
  2). 
  

  

  General 
  colour 
  pale 
  yellow-brown, 
  with 
  darker 
  head 
  and 
  sheath 
  of 
  ovipositor, 
  

   first 
  tergite 
  with 
  a 
  medianly 
  interrupted 
  dark 
  band. 
  

  

  ?. 
  Head 
  flattened 
  greatly, 
  If-lf 
  times 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  broad. 
  Eyes 
  reaching 
  vertex, 
  

   rather 
  less 
  than 
  one-half 
  length 
  of 
  head, 
  placed 
  mainly 
  at 
  the 
  side 
  and 
  widely 
  apart. 
  

  

  