SERPHOID AND CHALCIDOID PARASITES OF THE HESSIAN FLY 89 



in America, and the slight differences noted between typical speci- 

 mens of micropterus and the American material reared by Packard 

 and others were ascribed to variation supposedly caused by climatic 

 or other conditions. As a matter of fact, there still remains some 

 doubt regarding the real specific distinctness of this American form 

 and the European species, but since certain apparent differences 

 in sculpture and color do exist between the two, and since no typical 

 specimens of micropterus, except the somewhat doubtful ones from 

 Ohio, have been found in American material, it seems wisest to 

 consider them as different species. 



HOSTS AND LIFE HISTORY 



So far as is known, the species has been reared only from Phyto- 

 phag a destructor (Say) and Mayetiola avenae (Marchal). 



Little or nothing is known of its life history. No doubt its 

 development will be found to be similar to that of Eupteromalus 

 fulvipes. 



DISTRIBUTION 



In Europe this species seems to be widely distributed, having been 

 recorded from England, Poitou and Vendee in France, and from 

 various parts of Russia. Kurdjumov remarks that it is a common 

 parasite of the hessian fly in Russia. 



Aside from the questionable records already discussed of its having 

 been reared by Webster at Wooster, Ohio, it is not known to occur in 

 North America. 



MERISUS DESTRUCTOR (Say)** 

 (Fig. 20) 



Ceraphron destructor Say, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. (1) 1: 47-48, 63, 1817; 

 Amer. Farmer, Aug. 30, 1822 ; New England Farmer 1 : 113, 1822 ; 9 : 9, 1830 ; 

 Westwood, An introduction to the modern classification of insects . . ., v. 2, 

 p. 160, 1840; Harris, Insects injurious to vegetation, p. 432, 1842; Fitch, The 

 hessian fly (private publication), Albany, N.Y., p. 43, 1847; Say, Complete 

 writings (ed. by LeConte), v. 2, p. 6, 1859; Howard, Psyche 4: 206, 1884. 



Eurytoma destructor Harris, Insects injurious to vegetation, p. 432, 1842; 

 Herrick, Amer. Jour. Sci. Arts 41 : 153-158, 1841 ; Fitch, Cult, and Country Gent. 

 28: 354, 1866. 



Pteromalus destructor Curtis, Jour. Roy. Agr. Soc. England 6: 139, 1846. 



Raphitelus (Storthygocerus) destructor Harris, Insects injurious to vegeta- 

 tion, p. 469, 1852; p. 586, 1862 (reprinted in 1890). 



Semiotellus destructor Fitch, N.Y. State Ent. Rpt. 7: 827-828, 1862; Pack- 

 ard, U.S.Dept.Int, Geol. and Geogr. Survey Rpt. (1875) 9: 696, fig. 3, 1877; 

 Cook, Mich. State Bd. Agr. Rept. 16: 375, 1877; Packard, Rpt. U.S. Ent. Comm., 

 Bui. 4: 18-20, 1880; and U.S. Ent. Comm. Rpt. 3: 216-218, 1883; Forbes, 111., 



14 In a recent paper by Blunck (Ztschr. Angew. Ent. 18:586, 1931) a parasite in 

 Pomerania of Mayetiola phalaris Barnes is treated under the name Semiotellus destructor 

 (Say). In a footnote, the identification of the parasite is attributed to the late L. Biro, of 

 Budapest, and a quotation from a letter from Biro discussing the differences between the 

 genera Semiotellus and Merisus is given in which it is stated that in Semiotellus the parap- 

 sidal furrows are complete and distinct, the antennae 13-jointed, and the antennal club 

 rounded at apex, while in Merisus the parapsidal furrows are weak and indistinct, the 

 antennae 13-jointed, and the antennal club pointed at apex.. The quotation closes wifh 

 the observation that the species can now be placed definitely in Semiotellus. Only one 

 conclusion can be drawn from this statement, viz that the identification of the species is 

 incorrect. Sav's species destructor agrees precisely with the characters cited for Merisus 

 and not with those given for Semiotellus. Notes on the type of Semiotes mundus Walker, 

 genotype of Semiotellus, made by the writer during a visit to the British Museum in 1927, 

 confirm Biro's observations regarding the characters of this genus. If Blunck's speci- 

 mens really conform to the characters cited for Semiotellus as indicated, then they 

 represent a species quite different from destructor Say, which agrees exactly with Biro's 

 characterization of Merisus. 



