706 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



Genus CCCXXXVIII. Pselaphus. Herbst, Pay- 



kull, Illiger,LatrtilIc, Panzer. 



Anthicus. Fabr. 



Antennae with tlie two or three last joints larger than 

 the rest, the extreme joint ovoid. Labial palpi much 

 shorter than the maxillary ones, the last joint very long, 

 cylindric. Maxillary palpi much porrected. Tarsi with 

 one nail. 



Sfi. 1. Inifircssus. 



Pselafihua imfiressus. Panzer, Latr. 



Inhabits Europe. It sometimes occurs in Battersea 

 fields amongst the roots of grass. 



Genus CCCXXXIX. Chenmum. Latr. 



Antennae with the ten first joints nearly equal, lenti- 

 cular; the last largest, semiglobose. Palpi very small, 

 not exserted. Tarsi with two nails. 



Sfi. 1. Bitubcrculatum. 



Chennium bitubercv.latum, Latr. 



Inhabits France. 



Tuibe II. Clavigerides. 



Elytra short. Antennae six-jointed. Mandibles none. 



Genus CCCXL. Claviger. Preysler, Illiger, La- 

 treille. 



Antennae with the middle joints semiglobose, the last 

 larger, short-cylindric. Palpi very small. Tarsi with 

 one nail. 



Order IV. STREPSIPTERA. 



Order Strepsiptera. Kirby. 



Order IIymenoptera. Rossi. 



We are indebted to Rossi for the discovery of the 

 type of this highly interesting order of insects. The in- 

 sect discovered by this author was denominated Xenofis 

 Vesfiarum, and was by him, without hesitation or com- 

 ment, assigned a place among the hymenoptcrous insects, 

 next to Ichneumon. The Rev. William Kirby, who first 

 called the attention of entomologists to a British insect 

 named Stylofis Melitta, was the first author who observ- 

 ed that it possessed characters different from those of 

 any of the established orders of insects ; and this opinion 

 has been since confirmed by Mons. Latreille, who, in the 

 end of his Genera Crustaceorum et Inseclorum, thus ex- 

 presses himself. " Inscctum firorsus singulare (Si) lops 

 melitta;, Dom. Kirby), a Dom. Brebisson accr/U. Syste- 

 mala Entomologica furturbare videtur, cum ex omnibus 

 ordinibus refiellatur. Xcnops Vcsparum Rossi animal 

 precedent! affine et animum fiariter excrucians. Tem/ius 

 ducamus et dies alteri iucem afferrent." The time he 

 predicted has arrived ; and it lias been left to the lucid 

 genius of Kirby to substantiate and to characterise this 

 order, which he has done in a paper published in the 

 11th volume of the Transactions of the Linnean Society, 

 from which we shall extract a brief history of the order, 

 genera, and species. 



" Characters of the Order. 



« Body oblong or linear-oblong, somewhat cylindric, 

 covered with a horny integument. 



" Head sessile, broader than the trunk, transverse and 

 large. Mouth with no visible labrum, labium, or maxil- 

 lae. Mandibles two, corneous, elongate, linear, very nar- 

 row ; the apex acute, forficate, inserted under the head 

 at the base of the palpi, which are two, biarticulate and 



very distant. Antennae inserted in an excavation in the 

 front; base with a two or three-jointed common pedun- 

 cle, composed of very short joints, terminated by two 

 elongate branches. 



" Trunk oblong ; wings with ncrveures diverging like 

 rays, folding longitudinally, somewhat membranaceous; 

 elytra as if affixed to the base or coxae of the anterior 

 feet, linear, or somewhat spoon-shaped, at first diverg- 

 ing from the body, and then curving inwards again, last- 

 ly again recurving, and not in the slightest degree co- 

 vering the wings. Legs equal or nearly so in length, 

 compressed ; the four anterior ones approximate, the 

 hinder pair remote ; all furnished with trochanters, of 

 which the two hinder ones are shortest. Tarsi four- 

 jointed, the first joint largest, the last unarmed."* 



Genus CCCXLI. Stvlops. Kirby. 



Antennae bipartite; the branches compressed; the su- 

 perior branch articulated. Palpi first obconic, large, 

 compressed ; second, semi-ovate, acute, hollow beneath. 

 Eyes pedunculated,, composed of numerous hexagons, 

 the septa but little elevated. Abdomen fleshy, retrac- 

 tile within a process of the trunk. Tarsi with the last 

 joint notched. Mandibles thicker at their extremities. 



Larva unknown; it resides within the bodies of the 

 Andrenides. 



Pupa with a fleshy body, bearing a corneous exserted 

 head. It is found between the joints of the abdomen of 

 certain Andrenides. 



S/i. 1. Melitta. 



Genus CCCXLII. Xenops. Rossi, Kirby. 



Antennae bipartite ; the branches not jointed, semi- 

 rounded. Palpi, first joint compressed, flexuous ; se- 

 cond ovate, acute. Eyes pedunculated, composed of 

 fewer hexagons than those of Sylops; the septa thicker, 

 and more elevated. Abdomen exserted, horny; anus 

 fleshy. Tarsi with last joint entire. Mandibles thicker 

 towards their middle ; apex acute. 



Larva parasitical in the bodies of the Vcsfiides ; body 

 lancionate, plicate, fleshy ; head compressed. 



Pupa parasitical under the joints of the abdomen of 

 the Ves/iides. Body linear, fleshy ; head horny and ex- 

 serted ; opercula of the eyes fenestrated ; the window 

 hexagonal. 



Sfi. 1. Pcckii. Sooty-black-brown; antennae with the 

 branches more dilute, dotted with white; anus pale; feet 

 lurid ; tarsi brown. Length 1 J line. 



Xenos fieckii. Kirby, Lin. Trans, xi. tab. 8. and 9. 



The larva and papa inhabit the body of Potistesfuscata 

 of Fabricius, which is found in America. 



Body sooty-black-brown, covered with a velvet-down, 

 which can only be seen by means of a very strong glass. 

 Head between the antennae longitudinally elevated. Pal- 

 pi with first joint longest. Antennae longer than the 

 head ; branches pale brown, almost diaphanous, sprinkled 

 with minute dots of white. Thorax behind, in the mid- 

 dle, obtusely angulate. Scutcllum longitudinally and 

 broadly grooved or channelled. Postlumbium pale. 

 Wings cinereous-whitish, the margin thicker, the nerves 

 black. Legs cinereous, or rather lurid. Tarsi blackish. 

 Abdomen darker than the rest of the body. Anus pale 

 red. 



The branches of the "antenna; have their inner surface 

 plain, and are probably, under certain circumstances, 

 applied to each other, so as to form a single columnar 

 blanch. The white dots, Mr Kirby suspects, may emit 



• We have considered it as unnecessary to give the detailed character ; we must therefore refer to Mr Kiiby's paper, Linn. Tram. 

 l.xi.D. 109-112. 



vol.ii. p. 109-11 



