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



The color differences apparently coincide more or less closely with 

 the differences in wing development and are probably governed 

 largely by the same factors. The subapterous form and an occasional 

 winged individual have the coxae testaceous while the winged form 

 as a rule has dark coxae and a less metallic-colored body. 



REVIEW OF LITERATURE 



The subapterous form of this species was first mentioned in 1817 by 

 Say, when he characterized it as a form of his Ceraphron destructor 

 which had cast off its wings. Herrick likewise considered it as 

 doubtfully belonging to Say's species which he treated in the genus 

 Eurytoma, but he disproved Say's theory of the casting off of the 

 wings. 



In 1885 Forbes described the rudimentary winged form in both 

 sexes from specimens reared from hessian-fly puparia collected at 

 DuQuoin, Marshall, and Robinson, 111., naming it Pteromalus f 

 fulvipes. In the same year and at nearly the same time the de- 

 scription of Merisus {Homoporus) subapterus by Riley appeared. 

 Riley's description was based upon specimens reared from hessian-fly 

 puparia at Cadet, Mo., and included winged females as well as subap- 

 terous females and males. A review of the Riley and Forbes papers 

 by Packard (1885) mentioned both names, and one by Riley in 1886 

 suggested that the two descriptions probably referred to the same 

 species. In his Synopsis of the Hymenoptera of North America, 

 Cresson, in 1887, listed both names in Merisus and indicated that they 

 were the same species, but he did not give preference to either name. 

 In the same year Lindeman mentioned subapterus as a parasite of the 

 fly in North America. Enock in 1888 listed Merisus {Homoporus) 

 subapterus as having been reared by him from the fly in England. 

 Marchal in 1897 mentioned subapterus as an American parasite of the 

 fly, placing it in the genus Baeotomus, and in 1898 Osborn referred to 

 it under that name and stated that it was second in importance only 

 to M. destructor as a parasite of the fly. At the same time fulvipes 

 was cited as a synonym by Osborn. Dalla Torre in 1898 cataloged 

 subapterus in the genus Homoporus with fulvipes as a synonym but 

 at the same time also listed fulvipes in the genus Merisus. In 1900 

 Ashmead transferred subapterus to Micromelus. The species was 

 figured and discussed briefly by Felt in 1902, and by Webster in 1906 

 and again in 1915. In 1913 Kurdjumov listed the species as a para- 

 site of the fly in Russia and expressed the opinion that it was prob- 

 ably the same as Micromelus rufomaculatus Walker. Viereck, in 

 the 1910 edition of Smith's Insects of New Jersey, listed subapterus in 

 Homoporus and fulvipes in Merisus and in the catalog of Hymenop- 

 tera of Connecticut published in 1916 described subapterus in Merisus. 

 Packard gave a detailed account of the life history of Micromelus 

 subapterus in 1916. In 1917 Girault erected the genus Nemicromelus 

 and named Merisus {Homoporus) subapterus Riley as the genotype, 

 with Pteromalus fulvipes Forbes as a synonym. However, in 1924 

 Myers definitely established the fact that the description of P. ful- 

 vipes Forbes appeared in print and was distributed at least 2 weeks 

 in advance of Riley's description of subapterus and in accordance 

 with the accepted rules of nomenclature recognized fulvipes as the 



