402 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of Dr. Coquerel is an Idarnes, and has a resemblance to the 

 Podagrion, figured in Part 3, but is much smaller, has a 

 much longer oviduct, and has slender hind femora. It flits 

 about the outside of figs, and by means of its long oviduct it 

 comes into juxtaposition with the blind inhabitants within, of 

 which it is a relative, though by many removes. It, doubt- 

 less, wings its way from fig to fig when full grown ; but the 

 succession of the other fig-dwellers is not known. The 

 following species of this family have been observed in the figs 

 of Ficus Indica, in Hindostan, by Sir Walter Elliot, who saw 

 several other species of insects feeding on the fig-juice that 

 flowed in consequence of the occupation of the Agaonidae 

 within. He has remarked that of the genera resembling 

 some Hymenoptera and Termes, or the white ant, we have 

 workers as well as males and females." The species to which 

 Mr. Walker alludes in this paragraph are Sycobia bethy- 

 loides, Idarnes transiens, I. stabilis and I. pteromaloides, 

 and Sycophila megastigmoides and decatamoides : so far 

 as known they are all connected with figs, either as food 

 or as a habitation. Mr. Walker concludes his paper on the 

 Agaonidae with the following observations: — "The Agaonidae 

 occur in the Mediterranean region, where they have been 

 used in ancient time and in modern time for caprification, a 

 process which has been described by various writers. Two 

 of these species have been named Blastophaga Sycomori 

 and Sycophaga crassipes : the latter has a long oviduct, and 

 therein resembles Idarnes. Agaon paradoxum represents 

 this family in Sierra Leone ; it and Blastophaga are con- 

 necting links between Idarnes and Sycobia, from which they 

 diff'er in not having prominent mandibles. Idarnes Carme 

 inhabits St. Vincent's Isle, in the West Indies, and exceeds 

 the other species in the length of its oviduct. Idarnes and 

 Agaon were first included in one family by A. H. Haliday. 

 Paphagus Sidero also inhabits St. Vincent's Isle, and belongs 

 to the Agaonidae. Cinospilus Acasta, a native of England, 

 established as a genus by the names of Anthophorabia and of 

 Melittobia, may be placed next to the Agaonidae. It has 

 been often said that the present state of one region of the 

 earth, as regards its vegetation and animal life, resembles the 

 much earlier state of another region, and thus the aspects of 

 the Agaonidae in diflerent regions represent successive epochs 



