J. Waterston 
101 
apparently a true hyperparasite, it attacks everything within its limited 
range of action. Already it has been bred from a long list of hosts, and 
somewhat contradictory conclusions about the insect’s parasitic status 
and economic value may be drawn from its host attachment. Thus 
it may be a pest in nests of bees, wasps, etc.; a speci'es of Melittohia 
again proved a serious menace in the laboratory to Tachinids introduced 
into the U.S.A. to combat the Gipsy Moth, but possibly, the insect 
plays, or may be induced to play, a useful part in destroying dipterous 
puparia in or near houses, or in surroundings where the adult may 
skulk secure. For Melittohia dislikes light, and the ? dies little, though 
when once established- in a suitable environment, it is hard to dislodge. 
In the following notes special attention is drawn to the chaetotaxy, 
particularly of the legs. In the o the much modified antennae, and 
probably the curious fore tarsus and long bristles of the mid legs are 
accessory organs of copulation. The dd are inveterate fighters, and 
the greater development of the mandibles, which in both sexes are 
powerful, seems to be connected with this habit. The extraordinary 
sequel to the arrhenotokic parthenogenesis exhibited by Melittohia has 
been independently noted by Fiske (1911) in America and Malyshev 
(1911) in Russia. 
The of this genus are conspicuous; the $?, however, are not 
so easily recognised. The face, mandibles, prothorax, postero-laterally 
alate metathorax, and the propodeon (a little flattened in Fig. 1, d, 
to show the pleural bristles), give reliable characters. The 3 is at first 
of a transparent yellowish-brown colour, the head sometimes darker, 
but after feeding, the abdomen may be opaque. The general colour 
also darkens with age. The $ is blackish, or blackish-brown, with 
a dull, metallic, coppery lustre; the tarsi, apices of the femora and 
tibiae paler, the latter infuscated near, or with^ a smoky streak from, 
the base. The size of the species varies presumably with nourishment. 
The ? is from 1J to mm. in length; the 3 owing to the shorter abdomen 
is a little less, but one of Dr Graham Smith’s examples of this sex 
was weU over 2 mm. The alar expanse of the ? varies from 2| to 
2| mm.; of the cj, about 1^ mm. Walker took M. acasta “ on windows,” 
a rather suggestive reference in the present connection. I have seen 
examples from Oxford (Hamm) and Cambridge (Graham Smith); and 
from Sir Sidney Saunder’s collection I have mounted and examined 
material from Albania and Corfu. Except that in the latter lots the 
? antennae are a little more slender, the head (?) possibly narrower, 
and similar minor differences, I can see nothing to justify the belief 
