178 ICHNEUMONID^. INSECTS. Chalcidid^. 
Tribe— PUPIVORA. 
So named from their being parasitic on the larvie 
and pupse of insects, at the expense of which the grubs of 
the Pupivora live. They were named Muscce trisetes 
by old authors, from the three often long, bristle-like 
parts of which their ovipositor chiefly is composed. 
Family — ICHNEUMONIDAH {Ichneumons). 
The perseverance of these insects in depositing their 
eggs is very noticeable. In the summer months we 
often see some of them in our gardens, examining 
every leaf on the upper and under sides to find the 
caterpillars in which to place their eggs, vibrating their 
antennae and wings, and evidently very restless and 
impatient. 
One of the finest of the Ichneumonidae is the North 
American Rhyssa lunator. It is common on Montreal 
mountain, in August and the beginning of September. 
The female may be then easily taken, when depositing 
her eggs in some stump or dead tree, as they insert 
their ovipositors so deeply into the wood that they can- 
not withdraw them quickly ; and as the Insect endeavours 
to escape, these organs are frequently broken. 
In Canada many people fancy that it. is the Rhyssa 
which kills trees by “ stinging” them, as they term it, 
and so as often as they see it, they heedlessly destroy 
the very creature which helps to lessen the real enemy 
of the tree, whose works are more secret and deep. 
In this country the fine Rhyssa persuasoria, the 
largest of the tribe, is frequently found in districts that 
are well wooded with firs; these trees are at times 
much injured by the large saw-fly, Sirex juvencus, 
which bores into the trunks and deposits its eggs. The 
larvae, when hatched, do immense mischief by tunnel- 
ing in all directions. These ravages are, however, 
frequently arrested by the Rhyssa persuasoria, the 
parasite of the Sirex. The Ichneumon larva, feeding 
upon that of Rhyssa, checks in some degree the injuries 
of that species. 
PELECINUS POLYCERATOR— The Needle Ichneu- 
mon. Mr. Gosse, in his “ Canadian Naturalist,” p. 289, 
aptly applied the name of the Needle Ichneumon to 
this very singular insect. The female is of a polished 
black, and has a very long abdomen, the first five seg- 
ments being each a third of an inch in length ; the 
abdomen in the male, a sex which seems to be rare, is 
comparatively short. This insect seems to be abundant 
in Nova Scotia, but in Canada it is not so common. It 
is widely distributed over North America. 
The long abdomen may be used by this insect in 
oviposition, it not being furnished w'ith the usual ovipo- 
sitor. Other species of the genus are found in 
Columbia and Brazil. 
The fimiily of Ichneumons is by far the most extensive 
one for numbers of species tliat exists. There are at 
least one hundred and twenty British genera, and one 
of these genera has upwards of two hundred species, 
while others have twenty, and others sixty species each. 
When it is considered that almost every Lepidopter- 
ous insect has its peculiar parasite of this firmily, and 
some of them more than one, some idea of their endless 
numbers may be formed. 
The two Ichneumonidae, figured on Plate 7, repre- 
sent characteristic examples — fig. 3, the Banchus pic- 
tus, with a very short ovipositor, and fig. 7, Ephialtes 
manifestator, with a long one. 
Family— PROCTOTRUPIDAE. 
A very extensive family of insects, allied to the 
Ichneumonidae. Many of them are exquisite little 
creatures, such as the charming Mymar pulchellus, 
figured by Mr. Curtis. There are nearly fifty British 
genera ; one of these genera (Plafygaster) has upwards 
of one hundred species. Mr. Haliday (note to “ West- 
wood’s Synopsis,” vol. ii., p. 79) records, that the 
Alaptus minimus, one of the species, is the smallest 
Hymenopterous insect known. 
All the species are very small, and are parasitic on 
eggs of insects or on insects themselves. 
Family — CHALCIDIDAH { The Brasslets). 
The Chalcididae are a very minute family of parasitic 
insects, often of the most transcendant metallic polish, 
with filmy wings of few nervures, and sometimes with 
strangely-formed antennae and heads, while the ovipo- 
sitors of the females, are very curious — at times short 
and dagger-like, at others long and thread-like (fig. 53). 
Their numbers are legion — see fig. 53. 
Fig, 53. 
Agaon paradoxum. 
I can only refer to one of the members of this family. 
In the cells of that interesting bee, the Anthophora acer- 
vorum, there is found a parasite of this family, named 
by Mr. Westwood Alelittohia ; by Mr. Newport, who 
very particularly described it, Anthophorahia. The 
female of this parasite is a shining dark-green insect, 
not more than half a line long. The male is equally 
small, but is of a testaceous yellow colour. In the male 
the wings are only rudimentary, and the eyes are not 
compound as usual ; but in their place are simple 
