1 42 g. e. j. nixon 



The NERION-Grouf 



I am by no means sure that the species I have included in this group form a 

 natural aggregate. The two S. American species, in spite of having a long cubitellan 

 cell in the hind wing, have probably a closer relationship with the two species of the 

 annulicornis-group than with the two Philippine species with which I have associated 

 them. 



Key to Species 

 Females 



i Mesoscutum, except for faint anterior darkening, reddish ; tergite i much less con- 

 spicuously narrowed behind and hence not markedly wedge-shaped (Text-fig. 135). 



Mesoscutum with fine, dense, but not very sharp punctation ; fore wing of ordin- 

 ary form and with very long metacarp that almost reaches the apex of the radial 

 cell ; 1st abscissa of the discoideus not at all longer than the 2nd ; vannal lobe 

 beyond its widest part with almost concave edge and with virtually no projecting 

 hairs ; legs stoutish with the inner spur of the hind tibia reaching slightly beyond the 

 middle of the hind basitarsus ; hind coxa dusky yellow ; hind femur and hind tibia 

 bright yellow except for the darkened tip of the tibia ; spines of the outer side of the 

 hind tibia all of one kind, rather weak and not very numerous ; propodeum short, 

 anteriorly with vague indication of punctation and without acute posterior corners ; 

 ovipositor sheath about three quarters as long as hind tibia . abantidas sp. n. 



Brazil: Nova Teutonia, 12.vii.1937, 1 ?> the TYPE, (Plaumann). Type in the 

 British Museum (Nat. Hist.). 



This species approaches the sesiae-group much more closely than the other species, 

 its cubitellan cell being the shortest occurring in the group. 



- Mesoscutum blackish ; tergite 1 conspicuously narrowed behind and markedly wedge- 



shaped. 



Spines of the outer side of the hind tibia distinctly of two kinds and more numerous 2 



2 Tergite 1 turned over slightly posterior to middle and conspicuously, longitudinally 

 grooved on its anterior, declivous part ; 1st abscissa of the discoideus distinctly 

 longer than the 2nd ; hind coxa and hind femur bright orange yellow ; inner spur 

 of the hind tibia extending considerably beyond the middle of the hind basitarsus ; 

 ovipositor sheath as long as the hind tibia. 



Ocelli smaller than in the following two species and further apart, the transverse, 

 posterior tangent to the anterior ocellus not touching the other pair ; fore wing 

 somewhat narrow ; metacarp relatively shorter than in the next two species ; 

 propodeum slightly longer, and somewhat excavate on each side posteriorly, with 

 acute posterior corners, as seen from above (Text-fig. 136) ; length: 2-2 mm. 

 without ovipositor ......... nerion sp. n. 



Brazil: Nova Teutonia, 26. iv. 1938, 1 $, the TYPE, (Plaumann). Type in the 

 British Museum (Nat. Hist.). 



Antenna thin, not longer than the body and with segments 14-17 about one and a 

 half times longer than wide. As might be expected, this species approaches annuli- 

 cornis more closely than it does the Old World species and its inclusion in a different 

 group is somewhat unnatural. 



- Tergite 1 turned over slightly anterior to middle and without a medial channel on its 



anterior part though it may be shallowly furrowed here ; 1st abscissa of the dis- 

 coideus not at all longer than the 2nd ; hind coxa and hind femur dark brown to 

 blackish ; inner spur of the hind tibia shorter, not extending beyond the middle of 

 the hind basitarsus ; ovipositor sheath very obviously longer than the hind tibia. 

 Species with the ocelli closer together than in nerion, the transverse, posterior tan- 



