SEKPHOID AND CHALCIDOID PAKASITES OF THE HESSIAN FLY 125 



yellow with the mesopleura and sometimes a dorsal transverse band 

 encompassing the scutellum and axillae fuscous, the abdomen wholly 

 black, the legs mostly pale but with the hind coxae and femora fus- 

 cous or blackish, the antennae fuscotestaceous, and the wings hyaline 

 with a conspicuous dark band across the fore wing behind the mar- 

 ginal vein. 



Female. — Length, including ovipositor, 0.8 to 1.25 mm. Head transverse, 

 about as broad as thorax, weakly sculptured, collapsed in dead specimens ; eyes 

 bare ; mandibles each with three short subacute teeth, the outer tooth slightly 

 the longest. Antennae inserted near the mouth, 6-jointed, scape slender; 

 pedicel slender, obconic, nearly half as long as the scape excluding the radicle ; 

 first funicle joint small, oblique, its ventral margin more than twice its dorsal 

 margin, its width equal to approximately half its greatest length; second 

 funicle joint thicker and longer than the first, about half as wide as its 

 greatest length, obliquely truncate at both base and apex, the upper and lower 

 margins nearly equal ; third funicle joint as long as the pedicel, a little thicker 

 and about twice as long as the second funicle joint, gradually increasing in 

 thickness from base to apex ; club solid, a little thicker than the third funicle 

 joint, a little longer than the entire funicle and nearly as long as the scape, 

 slightly curved at apex; ; club with a few very slender elongate sensoria, but 

 the funicle joints apparently without these. Thorax longer than broad ; 

 pronotum short, strongly transverse ; mesoscutum about twice as broad as 

 long, weakly sculptured, slightly shining, with a few short setae, including a 

 row on each side of the middle line, the parapsidal grooves complete ; scutellum 

 broader than long, rounded posteriorly, subconvex, sculptured like mesoscutum, 

 with four setae ; propodeum nearly as long as scutellum, faintly sculptured. 

 Legs with all tarsi 5-jointed, the hind femora rather broad. Fore wings well 

 developed, extending beyond apex of abdomen, comparatively narrow, more 

 than three times as long as broad ; marginal vein a little longer than sub- 

 marginal ; postmarginal vein absent ; stigmal vein sessile, short, forming a 

 slightly curved continuation of marginal vein ; the submarginal vein with four 

 erect setae ; the disk of wing behind submarginal vein practically bare, re- 

 mainder of disk closely ciliated except for a line extending from near the 

 stigmal vein obliquely proximo-caudad nearly to the posterior margin, the cilia 

 basad of this hairless area distinctly coarser than distad of it ; marginal cilia 

 of fore wing not more than one eighth as long as the wing is wide, those of hind 

 wing nearly equal to the wing width. Abdomen broadly sessile, as long as 

 head and thorax or a little longer, the ovipositor exserted, usually about one 

 fourth the length of abdomen. 



Male. — Length 0.5 to 0.7 mm. Antennal scape a little expanded beneath, 

 about twice as long as broad ; pedicel half as long as scape ; first and second 

 funicle joints very small, both obliquely transverse, the first very slightly 

 larger than second; third funicle joint very long, distinctly longer than the 

 pedicel and first two funicle joints combined, usually about four times as 

 long as thick and about two thirds as long as the club but variable both as to 

 length and breadth; club solid, a little broader than funicle; funicle and 

 club clothed with fine short hairs; abdomen about as long as thorax. Other 

 characters including color about as in the female. 



Both sexes are variable to some extent. The fuscous band across dorsum 

 of thorax at axillae and scutellum is often entirely absent, the head some- 

 times appears entirely fuscous, the prothorax is often blackish, and the 

 mesoscutum occasionally is more or less discolored. In slide-mounted speci- 

 mens there appears to be a fine median longitudinal groove on mesoscutum 

 and scutellum. In dry-mounted specimens this groove is not easily discern- 

 ible, but there is always apparent a narrow median line of somewhat paler 

 color. 



Described from the type, 10 other slide-mounted specimens, and 44 

 card-mounted specimens in the National Museum collection. 



REVIEW OF LITERATURE 



This species was originally described as Paraphelinus speciosissi- 

 mus by Girault in 1911, the type having been collected on the win- 



