from Killopanma, in S. Australia, 100 miles east of Lake Eyre, collected by H. J. Hillier, in 1905.

This is the common Enicospilus occurring in at least the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand, and is probably widely distributed throughout both Islands.

Male: 14 mm. to 21 mm. in length.

A testaceous or less frequently a ferrugineous species, with or without the external and internal orbits flavous, rarely face entirely fulvous, claws black, mandibles with teeth dark red-brown, costa and veins brown with stigma testaceous; eyes and ocelli usually liver-brown colour.

Face and clypeus almost impunctate, occasionally minutely punctate, especially at base of clypeus; cheeks narrow, width about ½ the width of eye in profile: cheeks and ocellar area impunctate; pronotum nitidulous, very minutely and sparsely punctate; mesonotum minutely punctate, the punctures widely spaced mesopleurae finely but distinctly punctate, with obsolete longitudinal aciculations, usually more strongly developed on the lower parts of the segment; metapleurae distinctly punctate dorsally, nearly impunctate ventrally: scutellum distinctly punctate, lateral carinae not high, and continued to apex; propodeum with transverse carina usually weak, and sub-straight, occasionally it is obsolete, only indicated at the centre: basal area not strongly punctate, nitidulous: apical area finely rugose, nearly flat: abdomen slender 2nd tergite subequal to 1st in length; 3rd tergite ¾ the length of 2nd with a depth at apex of about ⅔ its own length: antennae not reaching to end of abdomen.

Forewing: 1st abscissa of radius straight, thickened along its basal ⅔: fenestra (Text-fig 1, Fig. 2) long, extending ¾ the length of the 1st abscissa of radius: proximal and marginal scleromes present: distal sclerome absent: proximal sclerome situated under basal ¼ of radius; marginal sclerome widely separated from proximal sclerome, and extending around distal border of fenestra, not quite reaching the radius: nervulus usually not interstitial with basal: discocubital vein gently bent under centre of fenestra and distal to proximal sclerome: Hindwing: abscissula slightly over three times the length of intercubitella: nervellus (Text-Fig. 1, Fig. 3) postfurcal, upper arm perpendicular and broken below centre.

Female: 16 mm. to 20 mm. in length.

Similar to the male: length of ovipositor slightly shorter than the depth of abdomen at apex.

Material:

7 males, Birdlings Flat, Canterbury, December, 1932. (S. Lindsay.)

1 male, Claverley, Conway River, Canterbury.

2 males, Tahunanui, Nelson, October, 1948.

1 female, Amberley, Canterbury, January, 1937 (S. Lindsay).

1 female, Waipara, N. Canterbury, March, 1921 (G. Archey).

1 female, Horseshow Lake, Christchurch, Canterbury, February, 1924 (J. W. Campbell).

3 females, Birdlings Flat, Canterbury, December, 1932 and January, 1933 (S. Lindsay).

1 female, Lake Rotoiti, Nelson, January, 34 (S. Lindsay).

Variation. This polymorphic species shows a wide range in colour and intensity of punctation. From the present material it is not possible to analyse these variations, although it seems that when sufficient material is available for study, E. skeltoni may fall into several distinct sub-species or varieties. In some specimens the yellowish colour pattern is reduced by lack of contrast or is entirely suppressed. In regard to the Hawaiian species of Enicospilus, Cushman (1944: 39) stated that in order to identify species with certainty it is necessary to ignore colour almost entirely, except for a few species, and depend upon structure. Cushman's statement applies equally well to this New Zealand species.

Bionomics: Members of this genus are usually parasitic on the larger caterpillars, and are nocturnal or crepuscular and are frequently attracted to light. Nothing is known of the life history or host relationships of the New Zealand species.

Enicospilus insularis (Kirby)

Ophion insularis Kirby, Trans. Ent. Soc. 1881, p. 46 N. Zeal. Sci., 1884, p. 73.

Henicospilus insularis (Kirby), Morley, Rev. Ich. B.M. Part I, 1912, p. 51.

This species was described from a female from New Zealand presented to the British Museum by Dr. A. Sinclair, R.N., in 1845. The exact locality from which the type was obtained is not known.

This would appear to be a much rarer species than E. skeltoni, as the only specimen I have seen from New Zealand is from the Great Barrier Island, off the East Coast of the northern part of the North Island. Two specimens in the Dominion Museum Collections were obtained from Sunday Island, one of the Islands of the Kermadec Group, 614 miles north of New Zealand.

Male: 16 mm. to 19 mm. in length.

A darker brown species than E. skeltoni, with the inner and outer orbits fulvous, or in one specimen the head is entirely brown. Stigma, costa, and veins dark brown; claws brown; mandibles elongate, upper tooth considerably longer than lower tooth; face and clypeus punctate, clypeus convex; cheeks and caput nitidulous, a few minute punctures scattered over the surface; pronotum closely and distinctly punctate, with somewhat larger punctures on the scutellum; mesopleurae and metapleurae closely punctate with obsolete aciculations on the mesopleurae: propodeum with the transverse basal carina not well developed and gently curved forward at the centre; basal area closely and distinctly punctate; apical area rugose; abdomen with 1st and 2nd tergites sub-equal in length; 3rd tergite ⅘ the length of 2nd, and has an apical depth of ½ its own length: except the 1st tergite, which is nitidulous and only faintly punctate in the post petiole area, the abdomen is finely punctate.

Forewing: 1st abscissa of radius sub-straight, very faintly sinuate, thickened basally to slightly beyond the middle; proximal, distal and marginal scleromes present (Text-fig 1, Fig. 1); proximal sclerome large, sinuated below basal quarter of radius, distal sclerome situated about midway along the 1st abscissa of radius; marginal sclerome well separated from proximal sclerome and extending around the distal border of fenestra, not quite reaching the radius; transverse cubitus ⅓ the length of 2nd abscissa of cubitus, the latter vein ⅓ longer than the 2nd recurrent: nervulus may be perpendicular or slightly oblique, may or may not be interstital with basal.