66 MISC. PUBLICATION 17 4, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



distinctly concave ; temples retracted somewhat posteriorly, not distinctly de- 

 fined, appearing approximately equal to one third the width of the eyes; 

 postocellar line equal to nearly twice the ocellocular line, the latter equal to 

 about twice the diameter of an ocellus ; head viewed from in front broader 

 than high (29:25), narrowed below the eyes, truncate at the mouth; malar 

 space equal to not more than one third the eye height ; antennal scrobe shallow ; 

 eyes moderately large, ovate, bare ; clypeus very finely striated, rest of head 

 nearly uniformly finely reticulate-punctate ; right mandible distinctly quad- 

 ridentate, left mandible tridentate, the inner tooth broad and very slightly 

 concave at apex ; maxillary palpi 4-jointed. Antenna 13-jointed, inserted a little 

 below middle of head on a line with the lower extremities of the eyes, distinctly 

 clavate ; scape attaining the level of front ocellus, subcylindrical ; pedicel a lit- 

 tle more than twice as long as broad at apex, not quite so long as the ring 

 joints plus first funicle joint ; three distinct ring joints, the first smaller than 

 the others, second and third subquadrate or not over twice as broad as long ; 

 funicle 5-jointed, the joints successively increasing a little in width and de- 

 creasing very slightly in length ; first funicle joint a little longer than broad, 

 about equal to the three ring joints combined ; fifth funicle joint a little 

 broader than long; club distinctly thicker than the funicle, ovate, 

 a little longer than the two preceding funicle joints ; funicle and club joints 

 clothed with short inconspicuous hairs. Thorax more than one and one half 

 times as long as broad (about 40:25); pronotum short, the dorsal aspect 

 strongly transverse, a little narrower than the mesonotum, and nearly in the 

 same horizontal plane as mesoscutum, sculptured like mesoscutum, frequently 

 with a delicate marginal carina anteriorly, the declivous anterior portion 

 nearly perpendicular ; mesoscutum weakly convex, finely reticulate-punctate, 

 about one and one half times as broad as long (24: 15), the parapsidal grooves 

 weakly impressed anteriorly but effaced posteriorly ; scutellum sculptured 

 like mesoscutum, weakly convex, distinctly shorter than mesoscutum and 

 approximately as broad as long; axillae sculptured like scutellum and broadly 

 separated; propodeum a little more than half as long as scutellum, without a 

 neck, with a weak median carina, the lateral folds well developed and complete ; 

 spiracular sulci shallow; surface of propodeum between the folds distinctly 

 wrinkled, laterad from the folds smooth and shining ; spiracles short elliptical ; 

 pleura mostly sculptured like the dorsum but with the upper margin of meso- 

 pleura and the metapleura smooth. Legs normal, hind coxae distinctly reticu- 

 lated outwardly. Fore wings about two and one half times as long as broad, 

 extending beyond apex of abdomen, bare basally ; marginal cilia short ; mar- 

 ginal vein a little longer than postmarginal and twice as long as stigmal. 

 Abdomen ovate or conic-ovate, about as long as thorax, and as broad as or a 

 little broader than thorax, smooth and polished dorsally at base, the apical 

 tergites and all the sternites with faint reticulation ; ovipositor tip barely visible 

 from above. 



Head and thorax dull metallic green with a brassy cast; abdomen usually 

 steel blue at base above, the rest of dorsum usually black and the whole venter 

 with a strong coppery cast, but in some cases nearly the whole abdomen is blue- 

 green, while in others it is in great part copper colored ; antennal scape red- 

 dish testaceous, the flagellum usually dark brown but frequently nearly the color 

 of scape ; mandibles yellowish ; coxae all concolorous with thorax, remainder of 

 legs pale testaceous ; wings hyaline, the venation testaceous. 



Male. — Length 1.5 to 2 mm. Antennae almost exactly like the female in 

 shape and proportions of the segments, the scape, pedicel, and funicle testaceous, 

 the club black ; abdomen nearly elliptical, as broad as thorax and usually about 

 as long as thorax; head and abdomen more strongly tinted with copper color 

 than in the female and the legs usually paler. Otherwise answering description 

 of female. 



EEVIEW OF LITERATURE 



Amblymerus mayetiolae was originally described in 1919 from 

 representatives of both sexes reared by C. M. Packard from puparia 

 of the hessian fly collected at Salinas. Calif. It has been mentioned 

 in literature only once since its original description, when Packard in 

 1928 discussed it very briefly in a bulletin on the hessian fly in 

 California, 



