366 



collected by Brainier & Koebele, at Benito, province of Pernambuco, 

 Brazil, in February, 1883, the other occurring in the Belfrage collection 

 from Texas. One of the principal reasons for arriving at this conclusion 

 is the distinctively Eurytoma-like antennae of the male, as shown in 

 figure 69. Walker did not know the male of his species. Without an 

 examination of the types of Hontqlia, however, it will be premature to 

 condemn the subfamilv Aximince. 



Fig. 69. — Axima, zabriskiei. — Female, side view — enlarged (original). 



To the Eev. J. L. Zabriskie, formerly of Nyaok, K. Y, (now of Flat- 

 bush, L. I.), is due the credit for first ascertaining the habits of this 

 anomalous group of Chalcidids, although the genus had been found in 

 North America before he reared it, as I recognized in 1887 specimens 

 in the collection of the Cambridge Museum. These were labelled, ap- 

 parently in the handwriting of Mr. H. G. Hubbard, who left Cambridge 

 in 1874, " Larvse found in burrows of small blue bee, FreshPond, Mass." 

 I also find in my notes on some of the Chalcids in the Cornell Uni- 

 versity collection, which I made in 1887, the following entry : 



Axima sp. and Ichneumon sp. ex. Ceratina dupla ? Larva of Axima has six or more 

 strong dorsal tubercles and head of pupa is strongly tuberculate. 



Mr. Zabriskie on three occasions reared quite a large series of the 

 species about to be described from nests of Ceratina dupla, and there 

 can be but slight doubt that Axima is a primary parasite of this little 

 bee and probably of allied species. Mr. Zabriskie first reared it in July, 

 1878, from nests of the Ceratina, in stems of cultivated Black Raspberry, 

 at New Baltimore, Green County, N. Y., and again in April, 1883, and 

 April, 1884, from nests of the same bee, in stems of Sumach (Rhus typhina), 

 at Nyack, N. Y. He reared in all twenty-five females and ten males. I 

 briefly mentioned this fact on page 540 of Volume II of the Standard 

 Natural History, but it has not elsewhere been recorded. Eleven speci- 

 mens were sent by Mr. Zabriskie to Professor Riley, and from them the 

 accompanying figures and descriptions have been made. 



Axima zabriskiei n. sp. 



Female. — Length 6 mm . Expanse, ? mm . Head and thorax coarsely and densely punc- 

 tate and with faint whitish pile ; lateral ocelli just behind ridge extending from one 

 frontal lateral projection to the other; median ocellus just anterior to this ridge, 

 making the ocellar triangle very obtuse and in two different planes; metauotum 

 rugose, with a few irregular longitudinal carina} ; pronotuin with a faint median 

 tubercle. Petiole of abdomen as long as metauotum, ver? finely shagreened and 



