ENTOMOLOGY. 



707 



a light (whilst the animal is living) ; but he gives this 

 idea as a mere conjecture. 



The discovery of this curious insect is due to the assi- 

 duous researches of William Dandridge Peck, Esq. pro- 

 fessor of natural history in Harward University, Cam- 

 bridge, New England, who sent specimens, with draw- 

 ings made from the recent animal, to the celebrated au- 

 thor of the Monografihia Afium Anglia, with the follow- 

 ing statement, which we have extracted from his letter 

 to Mr Kirby.* 



" Your having met with the remains of Strefiaifitera in 

 foreign Vesfiides, made me determine to look lor them in 

 those of this country ; and I have the pleasure to find one 

 in a species of Pollutes that is here very abundant. The 

 abdomen of this Polistes is so distorted by them, that I 

 have no difficulty in knowing them when on the wing. 

 Taking them with the gauze forceps, bringing them into 

 a close room, and permitting them to fly to the windows, 

 I caught them again with a wine-glass and a card, fed 

 them with sugar, and thus preserved them till their pa- 

 rasites were disclosed. 1 had not the pleasure to see 

 them emerge, but I found them soon after. I obtained 

 four in this way, and brought several nests of the Polistca 

 into the house, taking them in the night, when all the 

 inhabitants were at home, in hopes of obtaining more ; 

 but I got no living ones. 



" All thut I know of this animal, was picked up in a 

 few days that I passed at my little place at Newberry. 

 In feeding, the head of the larva is near the base of the 

 abdomen of the wasp, as I found by dissection. When 

 the feeding state is passed, it is easy to conceive that it 

 turns, and with its flattened head separates the mem- 

 brane which connects the abdominal scuta, and protrudes 

 itself a little way, accurately closing the aperture, which 

 is just large enough to admit it. All this time the wasp 

 is active, and associates with its companions. When just 

 protruded, the head of the larva is of a pale brownish 

 colour'; by degrees it assumes a rounder form, and be- 

 comes almost black. 



" The pupa state ensues; but I suspect that only the 

 part exposed to the air, and that immediately under the 

 pressure of the ifbdominal ring, becomes hard. 



" The four I took were all alike, and I concluded that 

 they were males, from the circumstance of their vibra- 

 ting their wings, which several lepidopterous insects of 

 that sex do likewise. Be assured, that this indicates 

 eager desire. So my insect, which I confined under a 

 Watch crystal, coursed round its prison, with surprising 

 trepidation, as long as it lived, which was but a few 

 hours " 



Sfi. 2. linssii. Deep-black ; branches of the antenna: 

 compressed; tarsi brown. 



Xenofia vesjfiarum. Hossii. 

 . Xenofia roaatt, Kirby. 



Inhabits Polistes Oallica, in Italy. 



Body black, smoky. Head small. Palpi with the first 

 joint short, rounded , the second elongate, compressed. 

 Antennx scarcely longer than the head, though com- 

 pressed, as if ensiform. Tarsi (I'oui) brown, white be- 

 neath. 



" Rossi. in his description, which, extraordinary as he 

 deemed his insect, appeals to have been drawn up from 

 a very cttrsory and inaccurate survey of it, mistakes the 

 mandibles foi Sets, and seems not to have traced them to 

 their point of insertion under the head, since he merely 



says ' Labium breve, medio tetigerum.' He takes no no- 

 tice of the eyes being placed in a footstalk or pillar. 

 The elytra he regards as an appendage of the thorax, 

 something similar to the haltares or poisers of the Difi- 

 lera." 



Mr Kirby has never seen Xenofis Rossi, but has merely 

 copied Rossi's account. Upon comparing the descrip- 

 tions of the two species, we find that they not only differ 

 in colour, but also in the length of the first joint of the 

 palpi compared with the second, and in the form of the 

 branches of the antennae. Rossi makes no mention of 

 the minute white dots which render those of Xenofia 

 Peckii so very remarkable ; we therefore think, that Mr 

 Kirby is fully justified in considering them as distinct. 

 Should the proportion of the joints of the palpi be found 

 in nature to be the same as expressed in Rossi's figure, 

 these animals cannot be referred even to the same genus, 

 but must constitute a new one. 



Order V. DERMAPTERA. 



Order Dermaptera, Kirby. 



Order Coi.eoptera. Linn. Marsh. 



Ordeh Orthopteka. Latr. Lam. 

 Charactera of the Order. 



Elytra somewhat crustaceous and abbreviated, of a 

 square form ; the suture straight. Wings membrana- 

 ceous, externally coriaceous, large, folded transversely 

 and longitudinally. Anus armed with a forceps, which 

 is horny and moveable. Body linear depressed. Anten- 

 nx inserted before the eyes, composed of from twelve to 

 thirty joints ; the first articulation largest, the second 

 very small, the others short, obc.onic, or nearly globose. 

 Mandibles with their points bidentate. Palpi filiform, 

 terminated with a very obscure luberculiform little body 

 or spine. Tarsi three-jointed, villose beneath. Eyes 

 triangular-orbicular, and but little prominent. 



Observation. The genera are founded on the number 

 of joints in the antennae. 



Genus CCCXLIII. Forficula. Linn. Fabr. Latr. 

 Lam. Cuv. 



Antennae composed of fourteen joints. 



Sfi. \. Auricularia. Forceps at the base internally den- 

 ticulated, and a iitile beneath with a tooth on each side. 

 Elytra yellowish brown, with the disc darker. 



Forficula auricularia of authors. 



Inhabits Europe. Mr Marsham has considered the 

 sexes of this insect as two species, under the names au- 

 ricularia and neglecta. 



(Ienus CCCXLIV. Labia. Leach. 



Forficula. Fabr. Latr. 



Antennae twelve-jointed. 



Sfi. 1. Minor. Forceps denticulated within. 



Forficula minor. Fabr. Panz. 



Inhabits Europe. The f< r'ceps of the male are some 

 what larger than that of the female, which character Mr 

 Marsham has considered as specific. 



Genus CCCXLV. Lahidura. Leach. 



Forficula. Fabr. 



Antennae with about 30 joints. 



Sfi. 1. Gigantea. Entirely testaceous-yellow. 



Forficula gigantea. Fabr. 



Inhabits Europe. It was discovered to inhabit Bri- 

 tain, by the Rev. William Bingley, who observed them 

 on the sea-coast, near C'hristchurcli, Hampshire, where 

 they occurred in great abundance. 



• We shall transcribe this part of Mr Kirby's paper, with the exception of the terms ; which we shall change for those adopted in tin's 

 article. 



4 U 2 



