94 misc. 



amined includes specimens originally sent to Howard by Lindeman, 

 labeled " Merisus intermedins " in Lindeman's handwriting, and also 

 specimens of the variety ruflventris, likewise labeled by Lindeman. 

 These specimens without much doubt constitute a part of the or- 

 iginal type material. They cannot be distinguished in any way 

 from American specimens of M. destructor. The two specimens 

 labeled " variety rufvventris " have both lost their abdomens, but 

 since many specimens of destructor have the abdomen as indicated 

 in Lindeman's description, and since these probable cotypes other- 

 wise agree in every way with destructor, there is no reason to think 

 that this variety is anything more than a variation of destructor. 



It is a pleasure thus to be able to confirm the conclusions of 

 Kurdjumov and Pospjelov that M. intermedins and M. destructor are 

 the same. 



Lindeman's variety microptera, however, is not Merisus destruc- 

 tor, nor does it belong in the genus Merisus. It will be found dis- 

 cussed elsewhere under the name Eupteromalus micropterus. 



The European material examined also embraced numerous speci- 

 mens reared by Marchal in France and determined by Ashmead, 

 these constituting the material upon which the Ashmead and Marchal 

 notes published in 1887 were based. Also several slide mounts of 

 specimens were examined which were prepared by Fred Enock, and 

 which undoubtedly were a part of the material reared by him from 

 the fly in England and about which he wrote in 1888. All this 

 material is typical M. destructor. 



Say's types of destructor were doubtless destroyed many years 

 ago together with the rest of his collections. The American ma- 

 terial studied, however, comprises several hundred specimens which 

 agree with Say's description and includes many which have formed 

 the bases for references to the species in the literature. Among 

 the most interesting of these are a male and female from the 

 collection of Asa Fitch labeled " Semiotellus destructor " in Fitch's 

 handwriting. Other specimens studied were reared by Jas. Fletcher, 

 F. M. Webster, E. P. Felt, E. G. Kelly, C. M. Packard, and by various 

 other entomologists who have not treated of this species in the 

 literature. 



HOSTS AND LIFE HISTORY 



Merisus destructor is known principally as a parasite of Phyto- 

 pliaga destructor, but according to Marchal it attacks Mayeiiola 

 avenae (Marchal) in France. Collin, Meyer, and Imms have re- 

 corded it as parasitizing Oscinella frit (Linnaeus) in Russia, and 

 Meyer has also credited it with attacking Elachyptera cornuta 

 Fallen. 



In North America Packard has stated that W. H. Larrimer 

 placed eggs of this parasite in glass cells with larvae of Harmolita 

 ( =Isosoma) and succeeded in rearing a few of the parasites to adults. 

 So far as is known, however, the species has not been reared from 

 field-collected material of Harmolita. In the unpublished manu- 

 script of P. R. Myers he states that M. destructor occasionally de- 

 stroys the larvae of its own species, as well as those of other parasites 

 of the fly. One very small male specimen was reared from a fly 

 puparium which also contained an adult of Platygaster. 



