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NVINOSHillAiS S3I9V99 CO Z *■ CO Z CO 2 2 s W" 2 > RAR I ESC°SM1THS0NIAN INSTITUTION NOliniliSNI NVINOSHilWS^Sa I d V d a co =; co — co Q __ N^UIJL^ Q LniliSNI^NVINOSHillNS S3 I dVd 9 ll^LI B RAR I ES^ SMITHSON I AN™* INSTITUTE r~ , Z r* Z r- m ' vs^ 5^ m co co RARIES SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NOliniliSNI NVINOSHillNS S3ldVd9 CO z * co z CO 2 X^v'TO/X < A 2 < S /®p"*Sv I ^ fyF'/ffly'' x tafe- o > > '■ ^ ^ inillSNI NVINOSHimS^SB I dVd a ll^LI BRAR I ES^SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTK PSYCHE A Journal of Entomology Volume XXXII 1925 Edited by Charles T. Brues Published by the Cambridge Entomological Club, Bussey Institution, Forest Hills, Boston 30, Mass., U. S. A. Printed by The St. Albans Messenger Company St. Albans, Vermont. PSYCHE A JOURNAL OF ENTOMOLOGY Established in 1874 VOL. XXXII FEBRUARY, 1925 No. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS. TABLE OF CONTENTS. A Note on the Moulting of the Tarantula. Eurypelma hentzii Phil Rau 1 New Nemestrinidse (Diptera) from Rhodesia and New Guinea J. Bequaert . 4 Some Species of the Genus Leucospis. C. T. Brues 23 The Efficiency of Birds in Destroying Over- Wintering Larvae of the European Corn Borer in New England. G. W. Barber , ... 30 A New Species of the Genus Gaurax. C. W. Johnson 47 New Neotropical Thysanoptera Collected by C. B. Williams. J. D . Hood 48 Some Hitherto Undescribed Habits of Meskea dyspteraria Grote. R. L. Schwartz 70 CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOGICAL CLUB OFFICERS FOR 1924 President , C. T. Brues Vice-President R. H. Howe, Jr. Secretary J. H. Emerton Treasurer F. H. Walker Executive Committee . A. P. Morse, S. M. Dohanian S. W. Denton EDITORIAL BOARD OF PSYCHE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF C. T. Brues, Harvard University ASSOCIATE EDITORS C. W. Johnson, Nathan Banks, Boston Society of Natural History. Harvard University. A. L. Melander, A. P. Morse, Washington State College, Peabody Museum. J. H. Emerton, J. G. Needham, Boston, Mass. Cornell University. W. M. Wheeler, Harvard University. PSYCHE is published bi-monthly, the issues appearing in February, April, June, August, October and December. Subscription price, per year, payable in advance: $ 2.00 to sub- scribers in the United States, Canada or Mexico; foreign postage, 15 cents extra. Single copies, 40 cents. Cheques and remittances should be addressed to Treasurer, Cambridge Entomological Club, Bussey Institution, Forest Hills, Boston 30, Mass. Orders for back volumes, missing numbers, notices of change of address, etc., should be sent to Cambridge Entomological Club, Bussey Institution, Forest Hills, Boston, 30, Mass. IMPORTANT NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS. Manuscripts intended for publication, books intended for review, and other editorial matter, should be addressed to Professor C. T. Brues, Bussey Institution, Forest Hills, Boston, 30 Mass. Authors contributing articles over 8 printed pages in length will be required to bear a part of the extra expense, for additional pages. This expense will be that of typesetting only, which is about $2.00 per page. The actual cost of preparing cuts for all illustrations must be borne by contributors; the expense for full page plates from line drawings is approximately $5.00 each, and for full page half-tones, $7.50 each; smaller sizes in pro- portion. AUTHOR’S SEPARATES. Reprints of articles may be secured by authors, if they are ordered before, or at the time proofs are received for corrections. The cost of these will be furnished by the Editor on application. Entered as second-class mail matter at the Post Office at Boston, Maas. Acceptance or mailing at special rate of postage provided in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorised on June 29, 1918. PSYCHE VOL. XXXII. FEBRUARY 1925 No. 1 A NOTE ON THE MOULTING OF THE TARANTULA. EURYPELMA HENTZIP By Phil Rau, St. Louis, Missouri. A specimen of this spider was brought to me from Texas by a friend on April 15, 1922. It lived in confinement almost a year, and fed upon various insects which were placed in the cage, such as grasshoppers, Dissosteira Carolina, cabbage butterflies, larvae of the pipe mud-wasp, Trypoxylon politum, larvae of the green June-beetle and unidentified small moths. It refused, however, to eat adult May-beetles, Lachnosterna sp., dung beetles, Canthon Iceiis, centipede, Scutigera forceps, bugs belong- ing to the family Pentatomidae, and male wasps, Polistes pallipes. It is also possible for this species to go for long periods entirely without food. At one time when I was out of the city, a star- vation period of two weeks did not seem to harm it. On one occasion I caught it in the act of eating a fat larva of the June-bug. The spider stood high up on its legs while under its jaws it held the large mass of meat which shortly before had been the larva. Upon repeated proddings, the spider walked slowly away carrying the morsel in its mouth. Finally under provocation the spider let go and then I saw that the food had been reduced to a mushy mass. So thoroughly was it masticated that only by a small portion of the skin was I able to learn its identity. That the tarantula actually chews its prey was demonstrated in the case of the larva of the mud wasp also, but whether the spider actually eats these food masses or only sucks the juices, I do not know. This spider lived an uneventful life, with the exception of its maneuvers of moulting. This process took place on August identified by J. H. Emerton. 2 Psyche [February 13. For two weeks previous to this date, the spider had refused all food. At eight o’clock that morning it seemed fairly lively. At 2:30 p. m. when I again tried to tempt it with food, I found it lying prostrate on the floor of the cage, with the legs stretched out flat. When I attempted to place it in preserving fluid, I found signs of life, and after watching over it for fifteen minutes I found that the spider was actually in the throes of moulting. First the carapace cracked at the sides and along the front, and fell back on the abdomen and lay there inverted. Then by bodily contortions the skin was slowly slipped off the abdomen, or rather the abdomen slowly emerged from the old skin. At this stage all of the legs, as well as the mouth-parts, were still in the old skin, and it was puzzling to me to guess just how they would be shed. Up to this time the legs had been spread in a very natural, free position, but before the abdomen had com- pletely left the old skin I noticed that the spider was gradually raising itself up, up and up, gradually pulling itself out of the old legs, palpus and chelicera coverings. It was a beautiful process to observe. All eight legs were lifted simultaneously, and soon the spider lay helpless on its side, entirely free from the old skin, all limp and clean, and beautiful as new velvet. The entire process of moulting, from the time that the skin began to crack at the shield to the complete extrication, took twenty minutes. Fig. 1 shows the shed skin intact, just as the spider left it. C — carapace, DC — dorsal covering, v. c. — ^ventral covering, F — one of the fangs removed from the main portion for photo- graphing. The spider after moulting was very pleasing to the eye. While the carapace had the same grayish-white color, the ab- domen had a beautiful covering of silvery brown hair. Some change had occurred in the color of the legs and chelicerae, for while they had been brown, after moulting they were of a slate gray color, and remained thus without change until the death of the spider, five months later. However, three weeks after moulting it was noticeable that some of the hairs on the front legs had changed to brown. I suppose that the slate color is not a permanent character, but one that changes with age. Another item of interest was the behavior of the dorsal 1925] A Note on the Moulting of the Tarantula 3 groove on the carapace at that time. Under normal conditions, this seems tightly closed, but during moulting it pulsated slowly and constantly, in a way suggestive of air being pumped in. This groove is the point of attachment of the thoracic muscles. Fig. 1. Moulting Tarantula, Eurypelma hentzii. The animal was probably adult after this moult, and the hazard of moulting had been surmounted. One other item of interest should be recorded in connection with this narrative. Into this large glass box that served as its house I at one time placed a spider, Latrodectus mactans. This creature made a straggly web in one corner, and the tarantula often used it to climb to the top, a distance of fifteen inches. It picked its way carefully and slowly among the strands of web, carefully placing a foot here and lifting one there, as with great dexterity, it lifted its ponderous body, thread by thread, among the apparently insufficient threads. 4 Psyche [February NEW NEMESTRINIDtE (DIPTERA) FROM RHODESIA AND NEW GUINEA By J. Bequaert. Department of Tropical Medicine, Harvard University Medical School. The curious and apparently archaic family Nemestrinidae is rather abundantly represented in South Africa, but very few species are known north of the Orange and Limpopo Rivers. It is, therefore, of much interest to record three new forms, of the genera Prosceca and Stenobasipteron, which have been re- cently discovered in Southern Rhodesia. I wish to thank Dr. G. Arnold, Curator of the Rhodesia Museum, Bulawayo, for the opportunity of studying these insects. . On this occasion I shall also describe a new species of A yct°rimyia, from New Guinea, entrusted to me some time ago by the Paris Museum. Prosoeca rhodesiensis sp. nov. Type female from Matopos, Southern Rhodesia, April 17, 1923 (R. Stevenson Coll.); allotype male from Mt. Bambata, Matopos, Southern Rhodesia, March 23, 1924 (without collector.) Both in the collection of the Rhodesia Museum, Bulawayo. A robust, black species, covered with dull grey tomentum; vertex and dorsum of thorax with short black hair; pilosity otherwise greyish white, very long and dense on the under side; a dorsal row of brownish black, dull spots on the middle of ab- domen; legs dark clove brown. Wings of normal shape in the male, with all longitudinal veins turned up at apex; brownish along costa and gradually fading into the hyaline hind margin. Female : Integument black, faintly clove brown at extreme lower apex of face. Antennae, palpi, and proboscis black; the proboscis faintly clove brown toward the base. Legs very dark clove brown, the tarsi and claws almost black. Body short pilose above, densely hairy on the ventral side. Vertex with erect, black hairs as far as the anterior ocellus; the remainder of the head with white pile, which is extremely short 1925] New N emestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 5 on the front, longer on the face and posterior orbits, and very long and dense on the cheeks. Dorsum of thorax with moder- ately long and rather sparse., erect, black pile; scutellum with similar, but somewhat longer, black hair, except behind its posterior margin, where the pilosity is greyish white; sides and ventral face of thorax densely covered with long, soft, greyish white hairs, which extend as a distinct white stripe above the base of the wing. Abdomen dorsally with sparse and short, erect, black pile; at the base and along the hind margins of the segments there is a mixture of greyish white hairs; ventrally the pilosity is longer, den'ser, greyish white, and generally appressed. Coxae and femora with long, greyish white hairs; the pilosity of the tibiae and tarsi extremely short, black; the longer setae at the tip of the tibiae also black. Except where the pilosity is very long and dense, the integument is covered with a dull, ashy grey bloom; on this, one may see, in the proper light, two wide, longitudinal stripes of blackish pruinescence in the anterior half of the thoracic dorsum, on each side of, and close to, the middle line. Brownish black pruinescence also forms a row of median, rounded, dull spotb on the second, third, and fourth abdominal tergites; each spot being located close to the anterior margin. In the female I have seen, these spots are quite well marked. Head large, flattened, much broader than the thorax; semi-elliptical in profile; kidney-shaped and nearly one and one-half times as wide as high when seen in front. Front rather narrow, widest at the insertion of the antennae, where it measures about half the width of the eye; the inner orbits converge dis- tinctly toward the aiiterior ocellus, wheire the front is only half as wide as at the antennae. Vertex nearly parallel-sided. Ocellar protuberance elongate and low, but slightly separated from the inner orbits, with a transverse, saddle-shaped depression in the middle; ocelli placed in an isosceles triangle, the posterior ocelli being only about half as far from each other as from the an- terior ocellus. Eyes bare. Antennae short, small, placed on the sides of the face, close to the inner orbits; basal segment subcylin- drical, slightly longer than wide, broadly truncate and some- what emarginate at apex; second segment nearly as long as wide, about two-thirds the length of the first, squarely truncate 6 Psyche [February at apex, with rounded edges; third segment flattened, pear- shaped, but little shorter than the first and second segments together, twice as long as wide, broadest in its basal half and thence gradually narrowed to the truncate and slightly sinuate apex. Style longer than the whole antenna, very sharply three- jointed; the two basal divisions thick, of about equal length, together about two-thirds the length of the third antennal seg- ment. Front slightly convex between ocelli and antennae. Face moderately swollen as a whole, gradually slanting from between the antennae to the oral margin, without grooves. The lower part of the head distinctly excavated between the cheeks. Proboscis of medium length, reaching about to the hind margin of the scutellum if supposed folded beneath the thorax; rather thick, especially in its basal half; directed downward, with a slight posterior slant. Palpi short and thick, three-jointed; the second segment much the longest; the apical segment bluntly truncate. Body quite broad and heavy. Thorax distinctly broader than thick; dorsum slightly wider than long; transverse suture quite deep on the sides over one-third of the width of the dorsum, continued as a shallow, oblique depression to near the scutellum. Scutellum large, semi-elliptical, cushion-shaped, its posterior margin separated from the disk by an impressed line. Abdomen broad and flat; the four basal segments together shorter than wide; the succeeding apical segments much nar- rower, decreasing in width, partly retractile within one another to form a telescope-shaped ovipositor; the last segment ends in two short, slender, straight, bluntly pointed lamellae which are wider in their basal half (in profile). Legs stout and long; the tarsi especially thick; the hind basitarsus but little narrower than the hind tibia. Wings rather long and narrow, much longer than the body, over three times as long as wide. Costal cell and extreme base of wing, as far as the branching of the fourth and fifth longitudi- nal veins, infuscate, with a brownish yellow tinge; then fading into greyish in the first basal and subcostal cells and also along the costa to the tip of the wing; the remainder of the wing, in- cluding the alula, nearly hyaline. Veins dark clove brown or nearly black. Epaulet and basicosta clove brown; the epaulet 1925] New N emestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 7 with a tuft of long, appressed, white hairs. Venation of the usual Prosceca- type; all the longitudinal veins turned upward to end before the apex of the wing; no cross-veins between the terminal branches of the fourth vein nor between the second and the upper branch of the third; fourth posterior cell sessile. Length not including ovipositor (to apex of tergite 4), 16.5 mm; greatest width of abdomen, 8.5 mm; length of proboscis, 8.5 mm; length of wing, 21 mm; width of wing, 6 mm. Male. Very similar to the female in every respect. The abdomen is more clove-brown than black, but this is probably due to the fact that the greyish bloom is not as well preserved in the specimen in hand; the dull, black spots on the middle of the abdomen are present, though not quite as distinct as in the female. The vertex is just a trifle narrower at the anterior ocellus than in the female; but the ocellar triangle is still much longer than wide behind. The wings are slightly wider and a little more infuscated than in the female; but there is no pro- minent thickening of the costa beyond the middle and the passage to the nearly hyaline hind portion of the wing is quite gradual. The venation is as in the female. Total length, 18.5 mm.; greatest width of abdomen, 9 mm.; length of proboscis, 9 mm. : length of wing, 23 mm.; width of wing, 6.7 mm. This species is closely related to Prosceca beckeri Lichtwardt, of which it was at first thought to be but a variation. Owing to the kindness of Dr. H. Brauns, I was able to examine a male of P. beckeri from Montagu Pass, George, Cape Province. It differs from the Rhodesian male in several structural peculiarities which, however, could not be gathered from published accounts. Thus the wing of P. beckeri is, in the male, prominently widened beyond the middle, the costa being there considerably thickened (length of wing, 21 mm.; width of wing, 6.5 mm.); the wing being shaped somewhat like that of the males of Ommatius (Asilidse) and of Stenobasipteron (Nemestrinidse). Such a struc- ture of the wing is not found in the male of P. rhodesiensis. In addition, P. beckeri has the wing much darker in its anterior half; the vertex is quite broad, the ocellar tubercle shorter than wide, the two posterior ocelli being somewhat farther from each 8 Psyche [February other than from the anterior ocellus; the style is much shorter, being about as long as the whole antenna; there are also minor differences in the color of the pilositv, the hairs of the dorsum of the thorax being to a large extent greyish white, and there are two rows of blackish spots on the abdomen, instead of one row as in P. rhodesiensis. Stenobasipteron arnoldi sp. nov. Type female from Mt. Bambata, Matopos, Southern Rhodesia, March 23, 1924 (without collector); paratype female from the same locality and date. The type in the collection of the Rhodesia Museum; the paratype in my collection. A slender, black species, covered with dull, cinereous tomen- tum; head and under side of abdomen paler; antennae and legs dirty straw yellow; pilosity sparse; longer and denser on the ventral side; proboscis considerably longer than the body. Wings very long and narrow, with the usual venation for the genus, very slightly smoky, more infuscate in the costal cell. Female. Integument black on upper part of head and on dorsal face of thorax and abdomen. Face pale clove-brown. Sides of thorax blackish, with indistinct, yellowish brown blotches. Ventral face of abdomen pale dirty yellow. Antennae yellowish brown, the last division of the style black. Palpi clove-brown. Proboscis black. Legs entirely pale testaceous; claws black. Pilosity sparse (probably but partly preserved in the two specimens seen). Vertex, front and face with very few, but long, erect, black hairs; cheeks and posterior orbits densely covered with long, greyish white pile. Dorsum of thorax and scutellum with sparse, but rather long, erect, black hairs; sides and ventral face, as also under side of scutellum, with more abundant and longer, somewhat yellowish white pilosity. Dorsally on the abdomen the hairs are mostly black, except at the extreme base; the anterior third of the second tergite has a sparse, erect, long, black pilosity ; the remainder of the dorsal side bears many scattered, extremely short, slanting, rather stiff, black hairs. Ventrally the abdomen is but poorly covered; there are a few, 1925] New N emestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 9 short, appressed, somewhat silvery white hairs, which are more abundant toward the sides. Coxae and femora with long, yellowish white pile; that of the tibiae and tarsi extremely short, white; the under side of the tarsi with more abundant, reddish brown pile. The integument of the entire body is covered with a dull, dark ashy grey bloom; on the front and face the pruines- cence has a slight yellowish tinge, and it is much paler, nearly white on the ventral side of the abdomen; there are no spots nor stripes on thorax or abdomen. Head moderately flattened, much broader than the thorax; semi-elliptical seen from above; triangular in profile, due to the conically projecting face; kidney-shaped and nearly twice as wide as high in the middle, when seen in front. Front rather narrow, widest at the insertion of the antennae, where it measures about half the width of the eye; inner orbits distinctly converg- ing toward the anterior ocellus, where the front is but half as wide as at the antennae. Sides of the vertex slightly diverging behind. Ocellar protuberance short and low, about as wide as long, but slightly separated from the inner orbits; ocelli placed in an equilateral triangle; anterior ocellus over twice the size of each of the posterior ocelli, transversely elliptical, occupying more than half the width of the front. Eyes bare. Antennae (Fig. la) short, small, placed on the sides of the face, close to the Fig. 1. Stenobasipteron. Right antenna drawn from the inner side: a, S. arnoldi; b , 5. difficile ; c, S. gracile. 10 Psyche [February inner orbits; basal segment cylindrical, nearly one and a half times as long as wide, squarely truncate at the apex; second segment a little over half the length of the first, about as long as wide, slightly broader at the apex which is broadly rounded off; third segment slightly flattened, short pear-shaped, but little longer than the first, and slightly over one and one-half times as long as wide, widest in its basal third and thence grad- ually narrowed to the straightly truncate apex. Style about twice the length of the whole antenna, sharply three-jointed; the two basal divisions together but little shorter than the second and third antennal segments; the second division some- what longer than the first. Front very feebly convex between anterior ocellus and antennae. Face much swollen, projecting anteriorly as a blunt cone, without grooves. The lower portion of the head is deeply and broadly excavated in the middle between the cheeks, the eyes continuing for about one-quarter their length below the oral margin. Proboscis very long and slender, reaching considerably beyond the tip of the abdomen when folded beneath the body, in which position it is in the type; while in the paratype it is directed downward with a slight anterior slant; labella thin and elongate. Palpi short and slender, distinctly three-jointed; the two apical segments much longer and of about equal length; the third truncate at apex. Body slender. Thorax about as broad as thick; dorsum dis- tinctly longer than wide; transverse suture deep on the sides over less than one-third the width of dorsum, continued back- ward to near the scutellum. Scutellum large, semi-elliptical, cushion-shaped; its posterior margin faintly separated from the disk by an impressed line. Abdomen flattened dorsallv, slightly wider than the thorax; the four basal segments together about as long as wide; the succeeding, apical segments much narrower, gradually decreasing in width, partly retractile as a telescope-shaped ovipositor. The last segment ends in two short, slender, straight, bluntly pointed lamellae. Legs long and thin; femora slightly swollen toward the base, more distinctly so on the front legs; tips of tibiae faintly thickened. Wings very long and narrow, much longer than the body, over four times as long as wide. Costal margin nearly straight;. 1925] New Nemestrinidce from, Rhodesia and New Guinea 11 the posterior margin much constricted in its basal quarter, where a very narrow trace of the alula extends from the axillary excision to the base of the wing. Wings very faintly infuscate all over; more distinctly yellowish grey in the costal cell and at the extreme base. Veins dark clove-brown; epaulet and basicosta nearly black; the epaulet mostly covered with black pile. Venation of the usual type of the genus; fourth posterior cell with a long petiole at base; sixth longitudinal vein faintly undulate (more so than in S. gracile Lichtwardt); no “bulla” at base of second vein; axillary vein not developed beyond axillary incision. Length not including ovipositor (to apex of tergite 4), 10.5 mm.; greatest width of abdomen, 4.5 mm.; length of proboscis, 14.5 mm.; length of wing, 14 mm.; width of wing, 3.4 mm. In the paratype these measurements are respectively 11 mm.; 5 mm.; 16mm.; 15.5mm.; 4mm. This species is allied to Stenobasipteron gracile Lichtwardt, also of Southern Rhodesia. From published accounts alone, it would have been difficult to point out the differences. For- tunately, I was able to compare specimens of the two species. The proboscis is decidedly longer in S. arnoldi , being always much over body length; the wings are narrower (in a female of S. gracile they measure 14 by 4 mm.) and much less infuscated; the third segment of the antennae is decidedly shorter (in S. gracile it is about twice as long as wide at base and amply as long as the two basal segments together). Stenobasipteron difficile sp. nov. Type female from Cloudlands, 6,000 ft., Vumbu Mts., Southern Rhodesia, 6 to 17 April, 1923 (without collector). In the collection of the Rhodesia Museum. A medium-sized, rather thickset, black species, covered with cinereous tomentum on the under side, with a black bloom on the upper side, the dorsal surface of the abdomen somewhat shiny. Antennae and legs reddish brown; the last antennal segment and the hind tarsi darker. Pilosity moderately long and dense on head, thorax and base of abdomen, yellowish white 12 Psyche [February ventrally, pale russet dorsally. Proboscis about as long as the body. Wings moderately long, uniformly smoky all over. Female. Integument black even on the face; scutellum clove-brown. Two basal segments of antennae reddish clove- brown; the last segment much darker; the style black. Palpi clove-brown. Proboscis brownish black. Legs reddish clove- brown; the tip of the tibiae and the tarsi more infuscated; the hind tarsi almost black; claws black. Pilosity rather long and abundant on head, thorax, and base of abdomen. Vertex, front, and face with numerous, erect, black hairs; cheeks and posterior orbits with a long and dense beard of greyish white pile. Dorsum of thorax and scutellum uniformly covered with loose, erect, moderately long, reddish yellow pile, more russet on the scutellum; sides and ventral face with long and dense, greyish white hairs, more yellowish below the wings. Dorsally the abdomen bears on the first and basal half of second tergites long, erect, reddish yellow pile, similar to that of the thoracic dorsum; the remainder of the dorsal side bears many scattered, short and more or less appressed, black hairs; and in addition a very sparse, long, erect, black pilosity; ventrally there is on the sides a dense, yellowish white, matted pile, but the largest part of the sternites has but a very few, short, appressed, white hairs. Coxae and femora with long, erect, greyish white pile; the hairs on the tibiae and tarsi very short and black. The ground color of the integument on the ventral side of thorax and abdomen is completely hidden by a dull, cinereous white bloom. On head and dorsum of thorax the pruinescence is dull and very dark brown, somewhat more cinereous on the sides of the dorsum and on certain areas of front and face. The sides of the face rather shiny. On the dorsal face of the abdomen the pruinescence is velvety black, with a somewhat oily sheen, and there are two transverse, ill- defined spots of a yellowish grey, dull bloom near the anterior margin of the second, third and fourth tergites, so that the abdomen appears quite distinctly spotted. Head moderately flattened, much broader than the thorax; semi-elliptical seen from above; in profile the face ts moderately projecting, much less so than in S. arnoldi] when seen in front 1925] New N emeslrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 13 the head is kidney-shaped and nearly twice as wide as high in the middle. Front rather wide, broadest at the insertion of the antennae where it measures a little over half the width of the eye; inner orbits moderately converging toward the anterior ocellus, where the front is slightly over half as wide as at the antennae. Sides of the vertex parallel. Ocellar tubercle short and flat, with a slight transverse depression below its middle, hardly separated by a notch from the inner orbits; ocelli placed in a short isos- celes triangle, the posterior ocelli distinctly, but slightly, closer to each other than to the anterior ocellqs; anterior ocellus larger than, though not quite twice the size of, a posterior ocellus, short elliptical, occupying a little less than one-third of the width of the front. Eyes bare. Antennae (Fig. 16) short, small, placed on the sides of the face, close to the inner orbits; basal segment cylindrical, nearly one and a half times as long as wide, squarely truncate at apex; second segment but little shorter than the first, slightly longer than wide, broadly truncate at apex; third segment much flattened, very elongate pear-shaped, over twice as long as wide, much longer than the two basal segments together, widest in its basal half and thence rather rapidly tapering to the straightly truncate, narrow apex. Style about the length of the whole antenna, only two-jointed; the basal division a little shorter than the second antennal segment. Front very feebly convex between anterior ocellus and antennae. Face moderately swollen, forming a low, blunt cone, without grooves. The lower portion of the head is but slightly and very broadly excavated in the middle between the cheeks. Proboscis very long and slender, reaching about the tip of the abdomen when folded beneath the body; in the specimen in hand it is directed vertically downward, with the apical third curved forward; labella very thin and elongate. Palpi short and slender, three-jointed; the two apical segments much longer and of about equal length; the third obtuse at apex. Body rather thickset. Thorax about as wide as thick; dorsum nearly square; trans- verse suture deep on the sides over about one-third of the width of dorsum, continued backward to near the scutellum. Scu- tellum large, semi-elliptical, its posterior margin distinctly separated from the disk by an impressed line. Abdomen flat- 14 Psyche [February tened dorsal ly, much wider than the thorax; the four basal segments together much shorter than wide; the succeeding, apical segments much narrower, gradually decreasing in width, partly retractile as a telescope-shaped ovipositor. The last segment ends in two comparatively wide, long, straight, bluntly pointed lamellae. Legs moderately heavy; femora slightly thickened, more distinctly swollen on the forelegs. Wings moderately long and narrow, not quite four times as long as wide. Costal margin nearly straight; the posterior margin gradually narrowed in its basal quarter, where a narrow, but distinct alula extends from the axillary excision to the base of the wing. Wings distinctly and uniformly smoky; veins dark clove-brown; the epaulets and basicosta black; the epaulet with a few black hairs. Venation of the usual type of the genus; fourth posterior cell with a short petiole at the base; sixth longi- tudinal vein very slightly undulate (nearly as in arnoldi); no “bulla” at base of second vein; axilla^ vein not developed beyond axillary incision. Length not including ovipositor (to apex of tergite 4), 11.5 mm.; greatest width of abdomen, 6.5 mm.; length of proboscis, 11.5 mm.; length of wing, 15 mm.; width of wing, 4 mm. This species is exceedingly close to Stenobasipteron gracile Lichtwardt, much more so than S. arnoldi. There are, however, a number of differences: the body is more thickset; the legs are stouter; the anterior ocellus is smaller, not quite twice the size of a posterior ocellus; the third antennal segment has a different shape; the style is only two-jointed; the sixth longitudinal vein is quite straight; the lamellae of the ovipositor are broader, etc. It is difficult to believe that these discrepancies are all due to individual variation. Moreover, the unknown male may show further characters. Stenobasipteron gracile Lichtwardt The original description of this species (Deutsch. Ent. Zeitschr., 1910, p. 615) is extremely brief and is reproduced here for the benefit of Rhodesian entomologists. It is said to be so 1925] New N emestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 15 similar to S. wiedemanni Lichtwardt, that only the differences are noted: .“Smaller and more elegant in the whole build of the body; the color is markedly paler than in S. wiedemanni and has a more greyish tinge; while the uniformly colored surface of the wing is also more smoky grey, showing but a narrow, yel- lowish-brown stripe along the anterior margin. Sharp dif- ferences are the absence of the “bulla’’ in the wing of both sexes; the inequality in size of the ocelli, of which the anterior one is twice as large as one of those placed at the occiput; and the bud-like, rounded shape of the male hypopygium, which is larger in proportion to the size of the animal. Length of the body, 13 mm.; of the proboscis, 10 mm.; of the wing, 15 mm.” This description was drawn on a male and female from Mazoe, Mash- onaland (Southern Rhodesia), in the British Museum. Later,, Lichtwardt recorded as S. gracile two females from Barberton,, Transvaal, in the South African Museum (Entom. Mitteil. Berlin, IX, 1920, p. 97). Bezzi (Ann. South African Mus., XIX, 1924, p. 171) does not appear to have seen it. 'I have referred to S. gracile one female and two males of Cloudlands, 6,000 ft., Vumbu Mts., Southern Rhodesia, 6 to 17 April, 1923 (without collector). It must be stated, however, that the description quoted above does not allow a positive identification, so that I feel justified in giving some additional data that might help in separating S. difficile from what I take to be S. gracile. The measurements of the three specimens before me are as follows: Female. Length not including ovipositor (to apex of tergite 4), 11.5 mm.; greatest width of abdomen, 5.7 mm.; length of proboscis, 10.5 mm.; length of wing, 14 mm.; width of wing, 4 mm. Males. Total length, 11 and 11 mm.; greatest width of abdomen, 5.5 and 5 mm.; length of proboscis, 11 and 10 mm. length of wing, 13 and 12.5 mm.; width of wing, 4.2 and 4 mm. In these examples the proboscis may therefore be said to be about as long as the body. Quite apart from individual variation, a certain latitude should be allowed in judging these relative lengths, as the body length certainly changes after death, while 16 Psyche [February the proboscis is to some extent retractile. Lichtwardt’s meas- urements seem to indicate that in his specimens the proboscis was considerably shorter than the body, but this may be de- ceptive. It is not stated whether the measurements referred to the male or to the female, and, if the latter was measured, whether the body length includes the ovipositor. In the Cloudlands female the integument is generally black; face, antennae, palpi, and legs rather bright reddish clove-brown; the femora more yellowish brown. The long pilosity is greyish white ventrally; black dorsally, even on the dorsum of thorax and scutellum; on the dorsum of the abdomen there is a mixture of a few, shorter, white hairs. The pruinescence is dull all over, cinereous white ventrally, very dark greyish brown dorsally. The abdomen is not spotted. Face more prominent than in S. difficile, more as in S. arnoldi. Ocelli in a short isosceles triangle, as in S. difficile, but the anterior ocellus is larger, being dis- tinctly twice the size of a posterior ocellus and occupying a little more than one third of the width of the front. The antennae (Fig. lc) are shaped much as in S. difficile, the third segment being slender, pear-shaped and over twice as long as wide at base; but the arista is considerably longer than the whole an- tenna and three-jointed. The legs are relatively thinner and the lamellae which terminate the ovipositor narrower than in S. difficile. The sixth longitudinal vein is perfectly straight before the apical curve. The two males are structurally alike and differ mainly from the female in the usual sexual peculiarities (wing much widened at anterior margin, beyond the middle; front much narrowed above so that the anterior ocellus occupies nearly the whole width; abdomen ending in a bluntly swollen hypopygium). The integument of scutellum and dorsal side of abdomen is to a large extent clove-brown. The long, black pilosity of dorsum of head and thorax shows a tendency to be russet brown, especially on the front and the scutellum. The third antennal segment is a little shorter than in the female, but still at least twice as long as wide at base. 1925] New N emestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 17 Key to the Known Species of Stenobasipteron. 1. Wings relatively short (7.5 mm.); with a short, but chitin- ized axillary vein, bent at an angle in the middle. Proboscis shorter than body (4.5 mm.). Ocelli of same size, in an equilateral triangle. Front (?) a little narrower than one eye. Small species (7 mm.) ( c? unknown) S. minimum Bezzi. Wings much longer than body, with the axillary vein hardly distinguishable, not chitinized, straight. Front of female much narrower than one eye. Larger species 2 . 2. First basal cell with a “bulla” near the base of second longi- tudinal vein.] Ocelli of nearly same size, in an isosceles triangle. Style of antenna three-jointed. Proboscis much longer than the body (24 mm.). Large species (17 mm.) S. wiedemanni Lichtwardt. First basal cell without “bulla.” Medium-sized species (10.5 to 13 mm.) 3 . 3. Proboscis much longer than the body (14.5 to 16 mm.). Third antennal segment short, slightly over one and one- half times as long as wide; style three-jointed, about twice the length of the antenna. Length (9): 10.5 to 11 mm. (cP unknown). S. arnoldi, sp. nov. Proboscis about as long as the body or a little shorter. Third antennal segment over twice as long as wide at base 4 . 4. Style two-jointed, about as long as the whole antenna. Anterior ocellus (?) occupying a little less than one-third of the width of the front. Length ($): 11.5 mm. ( c P unknown) 'S. difficile, sp. nov. Style three-jointed, much longer than the whole antenna. Anterior ocellus ( $ ) occupying a little over one-third of the width of the front. Length ( $ , without ovipositor) : 11.5 mm.; (cT): 11 mm S. gracile Lichtwardt. 1This bulla probably corresponds to the minute swellings of the wing membrane known as “nygmata” in certain Neuroptera, Trichoptera, Panor- pata, and Hymenoptera. They are apparently not known in other Diptera. See W. T. M. Forbes, Ent. News, XXXV, 1924, pp. 230-232, PI. V. 18 Psyche [February Nycterimyia Lichtwardt This extraordinary genus of flies is at present known in seven species: N. dohrni (Wandolleck) of Sumatra, Mafor,1 and the Andaman Islands; N. horni Lichtwardt, of Northern Queensland; N. kerteszi Lichtwardt, N. fenestro-clatrata, and N. fenestro-inornata Lichtwardt, of Formosa; N. capensis Bezzi, of Natal; and the New Guinean species described below. Although all species are closely allied, the distribution of the genus is extremely discontinuous. The structure of the antennae appears to be quite different in N. papuana from what has been described in other species. Of A. dohrni , Wandolleck (Entom. Nachricht., XXIII, 1897, p. 251) wrote originally: “Fuhler 3-gliedrig, gelb, drittes Glied stabformig mit welligen Conturen; and der Spitze tragt es ein ganz kurzes, feines, dqrchsichtiges Tastharchen.” Lichtwardt (Deutsch. Entom. Zeitschr., 1909, p. 647) says of the same species: “An den Fiihlern ist das dritte Glied nach vorn ver- breitert und mit einer stiftartigen, starken, apikalen Borste versehen.” Bezzi (Ann. South African Mus., XIX, 1924, p. 169) describes the antennae of N. capensis as “very short, with the third joint rounded and smaller than the preceding one; they are pale yellowish like the rather thick style, which is twice as long as the antenna/’ In my example of N. papuana (Fig. 2a), the third joint is extremely slender and ends in a narrower, seta-like portion, although no trace of suture could be discovered between the basal and apical sections. It agrees therefore best with Wandolleck’s account, but I can not find a differentiated tactile hair at the tip. I am inclined to believe that the “thick style” in Bezzi’s description of A. capensis represents the true third antennal segment, while his “third joint” is what I describe as the second segment. Nycterimyia papuana sp. nov. Type male from “Baie du Geelvink, New Guinea,” (Raffray and Maindron Coll., 1878). In the collection of the Paris Mu- seum. xThis appears to be a misspelling for Mapor, one of the Rhio Islands, between Singapore and Sumatra. 1925] New N emestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 19 A medium-sized, robust, brown black species, covered with a dull, reddish brown tomentum; legs and antennae testaceous. Pilosity brownish grey on head and thorax; abdomen almost destitute of hairs. Wings long, deeply bisinuate along the posterior margin, deep reddish brown; an elongate and narrow hyaline streak in the fourth posterior cell and faint indications of hyaline in the center of the combined first and second posterior and of the second basal cells. Male. Integument apparently black, though the body is so uniformly covered with tomentum that it is difficult to see the proper color. Antennae and legs pale testaceous; coxae more brownish; apical half of claws brownish black. Head and thorax with abundant, long, erect, brownish grey pilosity, which is denser on the ventral side. Hairs of the abdomen very short and sparse, dark grey; somewhat more abundant and longer ventrally and on the sides of the second tergite. Coxae and femora with moderately long, reddish grey hairs; the pilosity of tibiae and tarsi much shorter, but of the same color. Head, thorax, and abdomen are covered with a dull, cinnamon red bloom. There are no traces of dull stripes on the thorax nor of spots on the abdomen; but the second tergite bears close to its base a deep, transverse groove, which is shiny except on the middle; in addition there is a short, transverse, shiny depression on the side of each of the tergites 2, 3, 4, and 5. Head large, much flattened, a little broader than the thorax; semi-elliptical in profile and from above; kidney-shaped and nearly twice as wide as high when seen in profile. Front nar- rowly triangular, widest at the antennae where it measures about one-half the width of the eye; the inner orbits strongly converging above, where they come extremely close together for a short distance below the anterior ocellus, though not actually touching. Vertex triangular. Ocellar protuberance quite prominent, short, deeply divided behind from the inner orbits which project a considerable distance beyond the occipital margin of the vertex. Ocelli large, of about the same size, placed in an equilateral triangle. Eyes bare, composed in their upper half of large facets which gradually merge into the much smaller ommatidia of the lower half. Antennse (Fig. 2a) very small, placed a short dis- 20 Psyche [February tance from the inner orbits on the upper portion of the curved slope which leads into the deep transverse depression that separates the front from the face; basal segment short, much thicker than long, widened and crescent-shaped at the apex; second segment disk-shaped, almost circular from the side, as long as the first; third segment apparently fused with the style, the whole being over twice the length of the two basal segments together, extremely slender and narrow, strongly tapering from the basal third to the apex which is very' sharply pointed Front regularly curved from vertex to antennae, below which it droops deeply into a very pronounced transverse groove sep- Fig. 2. Nyclerimyia papuana. a, right antenna drawn from the inner side; b, wing. arating the face. Face sunken between the eyes, the median, shorter portion sharply divided from the lateral areas by deep, vertical grooves. Palpi and proboscis if present, extremely reduced and not to be distinguished among the long pilosity. Body broad and thickset. Thorax about as thick as, but shorter than, wide; its dorsum distinctly convex. Transverse suture well-marked on the sides over less than one-third of the width of the dorsum, obliquely continued behind to a short distance from the scutellum. Scutellum large, nearly elliptical, its posterior margin not separated from the disk. Abdomen broad and short, but little longer than wide, quite convex dorsally and somewhat curved down at the apex. The several segments are distinctly constricted, their apical portion being slightly swollen. The first tergite is very short and mostly covered by the scutellum. Second tergite much the longest, about as long as the two following tergites together; in its basal half it is broadly grooved transversally, the bottom of the channel being 1925] New Nemestrinidce from Rhodesia and New Guinea 21 shiny (except medially) and finely alutaceous; in addition there is on the posterior third of the tergite on each side a short, narrow and rather shallow, transverse groove, where the integument is also shiny and alutaceous. Third, fourth, and fifth tergites of about equal length, each on the sides, shortly behind the an- terior margin, with a short, transverse shiny groove similar to that found on the hind third of the second tergite. The apical tergites are much shortened and somewhat retracted ventrally; they end in a prominent knob containing the large genitalia. Legs long and stout; the hind legs considerably longer than the anterior and middle pair. Fore and mid femora moderately and rather uniformly swollen, much thicker than the tibiae; hind femora elongate club-shaped, distinctly swollen toward the apex. Tibiae slender, not appreciably thickened at the apex. Tarsi short, narrower than the tibiae. Wings (Fig. 26) long and moderately wide, over three times as long as the greatest width, which lies at the apex of the anal cell. The fore margin quite straight; the hind margin wavy between the tip of the fifth longitudinal vein and the apex of the wing: of the two, deep sinuations the proximal one, between the tips of the diagonal and fifth veins, is much the longest. Alula small, but quite well developed (as figured by Lichtwardt for N. horni and allies). Epaulet and basicosta clove-brown. Wings of a deep brown, opaque color, with a distinct cinnamon red tinge. A whitish hyaline, narrow, somewhat curved, longi- tudinal streak, with a pearly sheen, occupies the center of the fourth posterior cell (the cell immediately below the discal1); it begins quite a distance from the base of the cell, where it is widest, and gradually tapers to a short distance from the diagonal vein. There are no other well-marked hyaline spots; but the center of the combined first and second posterior and of the second basal cells is distinctly subhyaline and there is even a faint indication of a hyaline area in the second basal cell. The two wings are exactly alike in this respect. Veins bright reddish xIn Nycterimyia there are only four posterior cells differentiated. To make the nomenclature of the wing homologous with that of the majority of Nemestrinidae which have five posterior cells, it is necessary to assume that the first and second are fused; the cell here called the fourth then corresponds to the cell of the same name in Prosoeca, for example. 22 Psyche [February brown, darker basally. Venation as in the other species of the genus: in details it agrees best with Lichtwardt’s figure of V. kerteszi (Entom. Mitteil., I, 1912, Pl. II, fig. 2), but the short cross-vein which unites the first and second' longitudinals is much farther removed from the long cross-vein connecting the second and third longitudinals. It should also be noted that the auxiliary vein (or subcosta), which both Wandolleck and Lichtwardt figure as uniting with the first longitudinal about the middle of the wing, really continues its course independently to near the base, as in other Nemestrinidae'; furthermore it is connected, a short distance from the base, with the costa by a humeral cross-vein, apparently overlooked by these authors. The apex of the discal cell is far removed from the base of the combined first and second posterior cells. The costa extends to beyond the tip of the fourth longitudinal vein, whence it gradual- ly fades away to the apex of the wing. Total length, 11 mm.; greatest width of abdomen, 5 mm.; length of wing, 13.5 mm.; greatest width of wing, 4 mm. The species is closely allied to N. dohrni and N. horni , but differs conspicuously in the markings of the wing. 1925] Some Species of the Genus Leucospis 23 SOME SPECIES OF THE GENUS LEUCOSPIS.1 By Charles T. Brues. The recent paper by Mrs. Weld2 has encouraged me to undertake the identification of the species of Leucospis which have accumulated in my collection. Among these are several undescribed forms of which descriptions are given below, to- gether with a few notes on known species, mainly in regard to their geographical distribution. Leucospis birkmani sp. nov. $ . Length 12.5 mm. Black, with yellow and ferruginous markings and strong metallic reflections. The yellow is dis- tributed as follows: antennal scape; median round spot near anterior margin of pronotum; entire posterior and lateral mar- gins of pronotum; transverse band on mesonotum just before base of scutellum; four anterior knees; triangular spot at base of hind femur below and band along apical two thirds of upper edge; outer two thirds of hind tibia and extreme outer tip of hind coxa. The ferruginous markings include the base of an- tennal scape; tegulse; inner side of front femora and their tibiae and tarsi; middle legs; hind coxae, except lower surface; inner margin of hind tibiae and their tarsi entirely; sides of propodeum; middle of first abdominal segment above and the elongate ventral plates of the abdomen. Face finely punctate reticulate; inter-antennal projection with a strong median carina; nar- rowest width of face clearly less than its height; malar space .one-third longer than the second flagellear joint; ocelli on a distinctly elevated tubercle, the paired ones as close to one another as to the eye margin; occipital margin prominent medially, as high as thd ocellar tubercle; vertex rather finely punctate, confluently so in front; occiput irregularly reticulate, aciculate only near the middle. Antennae with the second and Contribution from the Entomological Laboratory, Bussey Institution, Harvard University, No. 246. Clara Jamieson Weld, Studies on Chalcid-flies of the Subfamily Leucos- pidinae, with Descriptions of New Species. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Washington, vol. 61, art. 6, 43 pp., 1922. 24 Psyche [February third flagellar joints clearly longer than wide, those beyond becoming quadrate and then distinctly transverse; inner eye- margin not emarginate. Pronotum without trace of a transverse carina, its surface densely, coarsely, separately punctate, the posterior yellow band smooth, except at the sides; mesonotum more irregularly so, with some of the punctures confluent, especially at the sides ; scutellum strongly convex, more shining, with well separated but shallower punctures; post- scutellum broadly crescentic, coarsely reticulate with a smooth raised margin. Propodeum medially as long as the postscutellum, with a median carina that is strongly raised behind; lateral and apical carina distinct, the surface between reticulate coarsely at the sides, very finely near the middle. First abdominal segment scarcely one-half longer than wide, narrower toward base, its dorsal grooves broad and shallow, the sides coarsely sparsely punctate at base and very densely and finely so at apex; abdomen considerably widened beyond the first segment, the fifth (the one preceding the base of the ovipositor) fully one half wider than the first; apex narrowly rounded; fourth segment with mod- erately coarse, well separated punctures at the base, becoming shagreened on the apical half; fifth coarsely punctured on its basal three fourths, with the apex very finely punctate or sha- greened; following segments coarsely punctate, much more closely so above. Ovipositor reaching the tip of the scutellum. Propleurse finely closely punctate below, shining and obsoletely punctate reticulate above; mesopleura, metapleura and sides of propodeum increasingly more coarsely and sparsely punctate. Hind coxae entirely shining, finely and densely punctate on the underside; sides below confluently punctate, above with separate, punctures and with a small smooth space near the upper angle; upper edge thin and sharp behind, without tooth. Hind femur shining, very minutely and closely punctate above, more coarsely and sparsely below, the punctures widely separated on the lower edge; length distinctly more than twice the width; basal tooth the largest, but not conspicuously enlarged, followed by nine much smaller ones of which those near the basal tooth and at apex are more minute than the intermediate ones. Anterior wings distinctly infuscated on their anterior half. 1925] Some Species of the Genus Leucospis 25 The metallic reflections on the body are mainly green, noticeable on the head in the antennal grooves, vertex and occiput, on the under surface of middle and hind coxae, the apices of first, third and fifth abdominal segments and upper side of propodeum. On the face and front of vertex there are some purplish reflections. Type from Fedor, Lee County, Texas (Birkman). The species is named for its discoverer, the Rev. G. Birkman whose collections have added greatly to the knowledge of the insect fauna of this portion of Texas. This species will run to L. cayennensis Westw. in Schletterer’s key (foe. cit.) and also in the one given by Weld (foe . cit., p. 8) but differs by the punctate hind coxae, distinctly clavate ab- domen and maculate thorax. From L. distinguenda Schletterer, the much longer ovipositor will serve readily to distinguish it. It is a surprise to find this large fine species undescribed and I had thought that it might be regarded as a northern subspecies of L. cayennensis, but there are so many striking differences that it can hardly be regarded as such. Leucospis muiri sp. nov. dL Length 8 mm. Black, with yellow markings and some fulvous or ferruginous ornamentation. The lemon-yellow is as follows; scape of antenna; a broad transverse band on prono- tum, curving forward and attaining the anterior margin at the sides; a streak above each tegula and a pair of discal spots on mesonotum; scutellum, except large triangular spot medially in front; transverse streak on postscutellum ; large spot above on mesopleura; large triangular one above hind coxa; first ab- dominal segment above, except basally and at sides before apex; two transverse bands on gaster, the first quite narrow. The tegulae and second and third joints of antennae are ferru- ginous and the body spots are more or less margined with fer- ruginous. Legs blackish basally but yellow and ferruginous beyond; the outer tips of four anterior femora and lower edge of hind femur yellow; remainder of femora and tarsi entirely ferru- ginous, except that the hind femur is black along the middle and 26 Psyche [February its tibia is streaked with black internally. Wings rather deeply infuscated, except at base. Face finely vertically shagreened or punctulate with a short median carina below the antennae; malar space as long as the second flagellar joint; antennal cavities strongly transversely striate; vertex densely and rather finely punctate, the posterior ocelli but little further from one another than from the eye : occipital carina sharp medially, coming very close to the ocelli; occiput finely circularly striate-punctate and shining. Antennae with all the flagellar joints decidedly longer than thick. Frothorax, mesonotum and scutellum rather finely and very densely but not confluently punctate, less distinctly shining than usual; pronotum with a single transverse carina medially close to the posterior margin, unusually long, three- fourths the length of the mesonotum. Scutellum oval, with the hind edge distinctly margined. Postscutellum somewhat promi- nent, semicircular, the crenate margin with a median emar- gination. Propodeum very coarsely rugose with a strong,, almost dentiform median carina at each side of which lies a less prominent carinate line; sides also distinctly carinate. Pleurae punctate, much more sparsely and coarsely so behind. Abdomen short and very strongly clavate, the gaster fully thrice as wide as the petiole. Petiole slightly wider than long, its sides parallel; highly convex above and armed below near apex with a cons- picuous long slender erect tooth; abdomen shining at base, more opaque apically, closely punctate, the punctures elongated and giving the appearance of a longitudinal trend to the sculp- ture. Hind coxae very finely and densely punctate below and inwardly above, the punctures becoming very sparse and the surface shining outwardly above; upper edge without tooth and broadly rounded, not sharply ridged as in most species. Hind femur very minutely punctate; with a large triangular tooth at the middle, followed by three widely spaced small teeth, followed by five or six still smaller ones becoming minute at the apex of the femur. Type from Laloki, Papua, 1910 (F. Muir). The body is not conspicuously pubescent, although the face and abdomen are clothed with short, pale glistening hairs. There is no trace of metallic color on the body. 1925] Some Species of the Genus Leucopsis 27 This species is similar to L. mysolica Kirby1 in color and in the dentition of the hind femora. It may be separated readily by the sculpture of the vertex, position of ocelli, and form of the antennae, as well as by the single carina on the pronotum. Leucospis malabarensis sp. nov. $ . Length 9 mm. Black, with yellow ornamentation and some ferruginous markings, without metallic color. The yellow markings are as follows; antennal scape below, oval spot on each frontal prominence, as long as the scape; two narrow trans- verse bands on pronotum, the anterior one curved forwards laterally and the posterior one not reaching the sides; a thin streak above the tegulse and a pair of small spots on middle of mesonotum; narrow arcuate band on posterior margin of scu- tellum; large triangular mark below tegula; short streak on metapleura above; spot at upper angle of hind coxa; pair of broad lateral stripes on basal half of first abdominal segment, their bases nearer to the median line; narrow band at base of fourth segment, extending halfway down the side; broader, complete apical band on fifth and a pair of short vertical lines just before tip of abdomen; margin of hind femur, except the toothed portion; small elongate spot just above apical teeth; anterior knees, external streak on all tibiae, not attaining the base on the hind pair. Tegulae, apices of all coxae and more or less of fore and middle femora and of all tibiae rufopiceous; tarsi ferruginous. Antennae more or less rufous; wings moderately infuscated, except at base. Face microscopically reticulate punctate, external margin of antennal cavity distinctly carinate; punctures of vertex moderately large and well separated; post- erior ocelli almost twice as far from each other as from the eye margin; occipital carina rather weak; occiput shining, dis- tinctly striate only at the middle; malar space slightly longer than the second flagellar joint. First three joints of flagellum longer than wide, those beyond quadrate. Pronotum three- tJourn. Linn. Soc. vol. 17, p. 69 (1882); cf. also Schletterer, Berliner Entom. Zeits., vol. 35, p. 236 (1890) and Enderlein Arch. f. Naturg., Jahrg. 67, vol. 1, p. 216 (1901). 28 Psyche [February fourths as long as the mesonotum, with a single carina near the posterior margin which is also quite distinctly carinate; surface shining, with the punctures rather small and closely placed; mesonotum behind and the scutellum more coarsely punctured; postscutellum short, transverse, simple. Propodeum short, finely reticulated, not carinate except for the lateral carinse which are very distinct although not prominent. Abdomen shining, its punctures not densely placed except at apex; first segment two-fifths the length of the abdomen, twice as long as wide and distinctly broadened at the middle. Ovipositor very long, reaching well beyond the apex of the scutellum. Propleura rather weakly confluently punctate; mesopleura and metapleura more coarsely so, especially the metapleura where the punctures become confluent above. Hind coxa finely densely punctate below, very sparsely above where the surface is highly polished; upper edge very sharp behind, but without tooth. Hind femur broad, including the teeth scarcely twice as long as wide; the surface shining and finely, evenly punctate; basal tooth very small; three succeeding ones long and widely spaced, the third broadest and blunt at apex; following tooth close and somewhat shorter followed by several closely crowded ones that become rapidly shorter. Body with a moderately dense coat of short white pubescence longer on the pleurae and especially on the sides of the propodeum. Type from North Malabar, Southern India (A. P. Nathan). In Schletterer’s key ( loc . cit ., p. 167) this species will run to L. japonica Walker from which it differs in the type of den- tition of the hind femora. In general appearance and in denti- tion of the hind femora it is similar to L. macrodon Schletterer, but the first abdominal segment is much narrower and longer, the ovipositor is longer and the ocelli much more widely sep- arated. L. macrodon is very variable in color, but the spot is reduced only in very dark specimens. From L. quettaensis Cam. and L. nursei Cam. both from Baluchistan, this species differs conspicuously in color and in the simple postscutellum. L. viridissima Enderl. from Ceylon is entirely different from the present form. 1925] Some Species of the Genus Leucospis 29 Leucospis japonica Walker. Notes on Chalcidise, pt. IV, p. 56 (1871). This species occurs also in China from whence I have a specimen collected by N. Gist Gee at Soochow. Leucospis affinis Say. A female from Jacumba, California (W. M. Wheeler) has the pale whitish ornamentation of L. hicincta Viereck. The hind femora have the basal and apical pale areas connected by a pale band below, a condition which seems never to occur in individuals from the eastern states. 30 Psyche [February THE EFFICIENCY OF BIRDS IN DESTROYING OVER- WINTERING LARVAE OF THE EUROPEAN CORN BORER IN NEW ENGLAND.1 By Geo. W. Barber. Cereal and Forage Crop Insect Investigations, Bureau of En- tomology, U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. Several years ago, not long after investigations of the European corn borer ( Pyrausta nubilalis Hiibn.) were begun by the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture, it was frequently observed that cornstalks infested by the larvae of this insect showed in the spring of the year numerous holes along the stalks, the burrows of the insect beneath these holes being empty. This was the first evidence of any appreciable feeding by birds on this insect. Such evidence of bird feeding has been found each spring and it is now possible to associate this work with the downy woodpecker ( Dryobates pubescens medianus Swainson) a winter resident in this region. In numerous instances, this bird has been observed at close range at work on the infested standing cornstalks. Plate 1a, shows sections of cornstalks from which the larvae of the corn borer have been removed by this bird. This type of feeding by chickadees ( Penthestes atricapillus atricapillus Linn.) has also been observed by Mr. F. H. Mosher. Within the last few years observations have shown another type of feeding by birds on the overwintering larvae of this insect. This is the shredding of cornstalks illustrated in Figure IB, and is the result of feeding by grackles, blackbirds, starlings and probably several other species of migrating birds. These birds arrive in the latitude of Boston, Mass., from the middle to the last of April. Such work was especially noticeable in corn- stalks that had been piled in the fall or in stalks that had fallen over for one reason ojr another and lay on the .surface of the soil. These birds have frequently been observed feeding in flocks in the spring, and in a short time they are able to gather the larvae Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institution, Harvard University, Bussey Institution No. 248. 1925] Efficiency of Birds in Destroying Larvce of Corn Borer 31 from quite a number of cornstalks. They are able also to shred infested corn stubble and take the larvae in the more exposed positions, but apparently are not able to reach the larvae con- tained in standing stalks. In the fall of 1922, when it was apparent that the birds were becoming a really important factor in the reduction of the num- bers of the corn borer, experiments were undertaken to determine how extensive such feeding was. These experiments were also carried on during the winter of 1923-1924. The object of this work was to obtain information on the extent of the combined feeding by all species of birds concerned rather than the extent of feeding of any particular species, the intention being to obtain as far as possible a picture of the present importance of birds as a group in relation to this insect rather than a study of the value of any one particular species. The studies pursued during the fall of 1922 and the spring of 1923 may be treated under two heads; first, the extent of bird feeding on the larvae in infested cornstalks placed in the field for this purpose; second, the extent of feeding by birds on larvae in host plants that remained undisturbed in natural positions during the winter. In the first part of this work twenty representative locations were selected throughout the infested area of eastern New Eng- land. In each of these locations ten stakes were set upright in the soil, there being six infested stalks fastened to each of these stakes. The three following types of corn were represented at each location: pop corn, sweet corn (Golden Bantam) and field corn (Longfellow Flint). Counts of the larval population of representative stalks during the fall gave an average figure as to the number of larvae expected from each stalk, and from this average the number of larvae expected from each station was computed. This series of experiments was placed in the field in November, 1922, after all larval activity had ceased, and the stalks were collected in April, 1923, before larval activity had commenced in the spring. The chance of losing an appreciable number of larvae by migration was small, since during this period the larvae were entirely dormant and inactive. Of these twenty experiments five showed extensive feeding by birds 32 Psyche [February when examined in the spring, mostly the work of woodpeckers. Of the remaining fifteen experiments one was destroyed by an over-anxious farmer, one was partly destroyed by a tractor and the others showed only very slight traces of feeding by birds or no evidence of bird feeding whatever. Table Number 1 shows the extent of bird feeding on the five experiments attacked, and the recovery of larvae from stations that escaped noticeable bird feeding. The average recovery of larvae from experiments not attacked by birds was 1,090 larvae per station as compared with the average expectancy of 1,223.2. This apparent loss of 10.8 per cent of expected larvae per station was undoubtedly TABLE I Extent of Feeding by Birds on Experimental Material in the Spring of 1923. Experiments on which birds fed. .1 §11 - .b 0 a £ U 0 3parent loss 0^ <0 C Id c Jv CU S- O U 4, O » a- I’S d Q § Oh