_Female._ Length 7 lines. Black; the clypeus, mandibles, palpi, the
joints of the antennæ from the sixth to the thirteenth, and a broad
stripe at the inner orbits of the eyes white. Thorax: an ovate spot on
each side of the prothorax above, a similar spot in the middle of the
mesothorax, the tegulæ, scutellum and postscutellum, a T-shaped spot
reversed on the metathorax, a large quadrate one on its sides, three
irregular-shaped maculæ beneath the wings, and the anterior and
intermediate legs white, the legs with a black line above; the posterior
legs have a large spot on the coxæ behind, the trochanters, the tibiæ,
and tarsi white, the tibiæ black at their apex, and the femora palish at
their base outside; the wings hyaline and iridescent, with the nervures
black. The abdomen beneath, and the apical margins of the segments
above, white.
_Male._ Rather smaller than the female, but only differs otherwise in
the colour of the legs, the anterior and intermediate pairs being
entirely yellowish-white, excepting the intermediate tibiæ and tarsi,
which are slightly fuscous above; the posterior femora are ferruginous,
the tibiæ and tarsi white, with the base and apex of the two former
black as well as the apical joint of the tarsi.
_Hab._ Key Island.
Gen. PIMPLA, _Fabr._
1. PIMPLA OCHRACEA. _P._ ochracea; antennis ferrugineis; facie luteâ;
alis hyalinis, apice fuscis.
_Female._ Length 5 lines. Entirely ochraceous, with the face and scape
in front yellow; the body beneath is pale ochraceous; the antennæ
ferruginous, above dusky; the eyes emarginate within; the tarsi have the
tips of the claws black; the wings flavo-hyaline, with the apex of the
anterior pair fuscous, the nervures black, becoming yellow at the base
of the wings. The head, thorax, legs and base of the abdomen smooth and
shining; the abdomen, except at the base, finely punctured; a transverse
impressed row of punctures a little before the apical margin of each
segment, and the space between impunctate.
_Hab._ Aru.
2. PIMPLA BRACONOIDES. _P._ rufo-flava; antennis tarsisque et abdominis
dimidio posteriori nigris; alis fuscis, dimidio basali flavis.
_Female._ Length 6 lines. Ferruginous; the posterior tarsi and the
fourth and following segments of the abdomen black; the head is reddish
yellow, the eyes brown; the scape and two or three of the basal joints
of the flagellum ferruginous, the rest fuscous; the basal half of the
wings flavo-hyaline, the apical half fuscous; the stigma yellow, with a
subhyaline macula beneath, and two other similar irregular-shaped spots.
The abdomen with two longitudinal carinæ on the basal segment, and a
transverse curved impressed line on the other segments.
_Hab._ Key Island.
This species might at first sight be mistaken for a species of the genus
_Bracon_. The male only differs from the female in having the abdomen
black, with only the basal segment yellow; the wings are only very
slightly yellow at their base; it is also rather smaller.
3. PIMPLA PENETRANS. _P._ flavo-ferruginea; flagello fusco; alis
flavo-hyalinis, apice fuscis.
_Female._ Length 4-1/4 lines. Reddish yellow, smooth, and shining; the
face testaceous, with slight fuscous stains; the scape and two or three
of the basal joints of the flagellum yellow in front; the wings hyaline,
with a yellowish tinge; the nervures black, except the costal nervure,
which is ferruginous towards the base, the apex of the wings slightly
clouded; the posterior tibiæ fuscous above. Abdomen: the segments with
slightly impressed oblique depressions, the ovipositor shorter than the
abdomen, and black.
The _Male_ only differs in having the abdomen rather more slender.
_Hab._ Aru.
4. PIMPLA FERRUGINEA. _P._ flavo-ferruginea; antennis supra fuscis; alis
hyalinis.
_Female._ Length 5-1/2 lines. Ferruginous, with the head and thorax
beneath yellow-testaceous; the coxæ also are of the same colour; the
flagellum slightly fuscous above; the wings flavo-hyaline, the nervures
black; the two basal segments of the abdomen shining, the third and the
following segments subopake; the ovipositor as long as the abdomen.
_Hab._ Key Island.
5. PIMPLA PLAGIATA. _P._ flavo-rufa; antennis strigisque tribus
mesothoracis nigris; alis hyalinis, apice cellulæ marginalis fusco
unimaculato.
_Female._ Length 5-1/2 lines. Yellow, the legs with ferruginous stains;
the antennæ black, with the scape yellow in front; the head with a large
ovate black spot behind the ocelli. Thorax finely punctured on the disk
of metathorax, which has three longitudinal broad black stripes, a
narrow black line on the posterior margin of both the scutellum and
postscutellum; wings hyaline, the nervures black, with a dark fuscous
spot at the apex of the marginal cell. Abdomen reddish-yellow, with the
apical margins of the segments yellow; the ovipositor black, and shorter
than the abdomen.
_Hab._ Aru.
Gen. RHYSSA, _Grav._
1. RHYSSA MACULIPENNIS. _R._ rufescenti-flava; antennis et vertice
nigris; alis hyalinis, plaga nigro-fusca.
_Male._ Length 9 lines. Ferruginous; the head of a yellow testaceous,
with the vertex and antennæ black; the scape ferruginous in front; the
mandibles black. Thorax: the mesothorax and scutellum transversely
rugose, the former with two deeply impressed lines in front, which
converge inwards, and meet in the middle of the disk; wings hyaline,
with a yellow tinge on the anterior pair, the nervures black; a black
stripe crosses the middle of the marginal cell, and terminates at the
inferior margin of the discoidal cell; the legs ferruginous, with the
posterior tarsi black. Abdomen smooth, shining, ferruginous.
_Hab._ Aru.
2. RHYSSA VESTIGATOR. _R._ ferruginea; antennis, mesothorace,
metathoracisque basi nigris; abdomine lineari, nitido et lævi; alis
hyalinis, apice subfuscato.
_Male._ Length 9 lines. Head testaceous-yellow, with the vertex
ferruginous; the antennæ fusco-ferruginous. Thorax black, with the
prothorax, a large oblique spot beneath the wings, the scutellum, and
metathorax yellow, the base of the latter black; the mesothorax and
scutellum rugose; the metathorax smooth and shining; the legs
ferruginous, with the anterior coxæ in front and the posterior pair
behind yellow; the posterior coxæ black beneath; wings hyaline, faintly
clouded at their apical margins. Abdomen elongate, linear, glossy,
smooth, and shining, ferruginous, with the base and lateral margins
blackish.
_Hab._ Aru.
Gen. BRACON, _Fabr._
1. BRACON BASALIS. _B._ capite, thorace, pedibus anticis et intermediis,
femoribus posticis ferrugineis; tibiis tarsisque et abdomine nigris,
segmento basali flavo; alis fusco-hyalinis.
_Female._ Length 4-1/4 lines. The head, scape in front, thorax, anterior
and intermediate legs, the posterior coxæ, trochanters, and femora, and
the first segment of the abdomen, and a semicircular spot in the middle
of the base of the second, yellow-ferruginous; the antennæ, the
posterior tibiæ and tarsi, fuscous; abdomen shining black; the thorax
smooth and shining; the wings fusco-hyaline. The basal segment of the
abdomen with a longitudinal impressed line on each side, the second
segment with an oblique depression, the third with an impressed line,
curved forwards and extending to the lateral margins; the base of the
segment has a row of short, deeply impressed striæ; the ovipositor
shorter than the abdomen.
_Hab._ Aru.
2. BRACON ALBO-MARGINATUS. _B._ capite, thorace pedibusque ferrugineis;
abdomine nigris annulis albo-marginatis; alis fusco-hyalinis.
_Female._ Length 4-1/2 lines. Head, thorax, and legs ferruginous,
smooth, and shining; antennæ and abdomen black, the latter smooth and
shining, the posterior margins of the third and following segments with
a narrow bluish-white fascia; the posterior tarsi slightly fuscous; the
wings fusco-hyaline; the ovipositor a little longer than the abdomen.
_Hab._ Aru.
3. BRACON NIGRIPENNIS. _B._ thorace, pedibus anticis et intermediis,
femoribusque posticis ferrugineis; tibiis tarsisque posticis et abdomine
nigris; alis nigro-fuscis; capite luteo-testaceo.
_Female._ Length 9 lines. Head testaceous, the antennæ black. Thorax,
anterior and intermediate legs, the posterior coxæ, trochanters and
femora, the tegulæ, extreme base of the wings, and the base of the
stigma ferruginous; the thorax smooth and shining; the wings
brown-black, with a small hyaline spot in the first submarginal cell.
Abdomen longitudinally aciculate, a central carina at the base of the
first segment, the second segment with an oblique impressed line running
from the lateral angles of its basal margin, and meeting in the centre
of its posterior margin; the margins of all the segments constricted;
the ovipositor shorter than the abdomen.
_Hab._ Aru.
4. BRACON EXOLETUS. _B._ niger; capite, thorace, pedibus anterioribus et
intermediis ferrugineis; alis subhyalinis.
_Female._ Length 5 lines. Head, scape of the antennæ, thorax, anterior
and intermediate legs, ferruginous; flagellum and tips of the mandibles
black. Thorax smooth and shining; wings fusco-hyaline, the nervures dark
brown; the posterior legs fusco-ferruginous. Abdomen rugose and
subopake; the basal segment black in the middle, with the base and
lateral margins ferruginous, the sides deeply channeled; the second
segment with an arrow-headed shining space in the middle of its base;
the ovipositor shorter than the abdomen.
_Hab._ Aru.
5. BRACON ABDOMINALIS. _B._ rufo-flavus; antennis fuscis; alis
subhyalinis; abdomine ovato.
_Female._ Length 3 lines. Reddish yellow; head and thorax smooth and
shining; the head narrower than the thorax; wings fusco-hyaline; abdomen
ovate, broader than the thorax, the first and second segments rugose,
with deep sculptured impressions; the second segment has an ovate
shining space in the middle at its basal margin; the third segment is
deeply depressed and sculptured at the base, leaving a transverse arched
space at its apex, the width of the entire segment; the following
segments have their margins very deeply depressed.
_Hab._ Aru.
6. BRACON NITIDUS. _B._ niger; capite, thorace pedibusque et abdominis
segmento primo ferrugineis, totis nitidissimis.
_Female._ Length 4 lines. Ferruginous, with the flagellum, second and
following segments shining black; the thorax smooth and shining, with
the scutellum prominent; the wings subhyaline, their apical margins
clouded, their extreme base yellowish, the nervures dark brown, the
stigma black. Abdomen: the second and third segments with deeply
impressed oblique lines on each side, and the basal margins of the
following segments depressed.
_Hab._ Aru.
7. BRACON PALLIFRONS. _B._ niger; thorace pedibusque anticis et
intermediis ferrugineis; alis fuscis.
_Female._ Length 6 lines. Head obscure, testaceous yellow; the eyes
brown; the antennæ black. Thorax and the anterior and intermediate legs
ferruginous; an ovate black spot on the metathorax; and the posterior
legs black, with the articulations obscurely ferruginous; wings dark
fuscous, with the nervures and stigma black, the base of the latter
yellowish, and a hyaline streak beneath it, which crosses the first
submarginal cell. Abdomen black and shining; the first segment with some
coarse striae at the apex; the second with a central forked carina and
an oblique one on each side running inwards to the apex of the segment;
between the carinæ are a number of deep grooves; the lateral margins of
the three basal segments carinated; the third segment has a row of short
deep striæ at its base; the ovipositor longer than the body.
_Hab._ Aru.
8. BRACON INTRUDENS. _B._ niger; thorace, pedibus anticis intermediisque
et abdominis segmento basali ferrugineis; alis hyalinis.
_Female._ Length 5 lines. Black; the thorax, anterior and intermediate
legs, the articulations of the posterior pair, and the base of the
abdomen ferruginous, entirely smooth and shining; the wings subhyaline,
the nervures fusco-ferruginous, an irregular fuscous stain at the base
of the first submarginal cell, extending beyond it. Abdomen: the basal
segment margined at the sides; the second segment with an oblique deeply
impressed line running inwards, not quite meeting or extending to the
apical margin.
_Hab._ Aru.
Gen. AGATHIS, _Latr._
1. AGATHIS FUMIPENNIS. _A._ ferruginea; capite, abdominis apice
tarsisque posticis nigris; alis obscurè fuscis.
_Female._ Length 4 lines. Reddish-yellow; the head, apical joint of the
intermediate tarsi, the apex of the posterior tibiæ, and the third and
following segments of the abdomen black; the thorax and legs with a
thin, short, pale fulvous pubescence; the head and abdomen smooth and
shining; the head produced before the eyes into a kind of beak,
rufo-piceous anteriorly. Thorax narrowed before the wings, which are
dark fuscous, with a hyaline irregular mark below the stigma, crossing
the submarginal cell; the anterior margin of the anterior wings
pubescent; the metathorax broad, margined laterally, with a central
forked carina, and a crooked one on each side; the posterior legs
incrassate. Abdomen with the sides of the upper surface carinated.
_Hab._ Aru.
Fam. CHRYSIDIDÆ, _Leach_.
Gen. STILBUM, _Spin._
1. Stilbum splendidum, _Fabr. Syst. Piez._ p. 170. 1.
_Hab._ Aru; Senegal; Java; Bengal.
2. Stilbum amethystinum, _Fabr. Syst. Piez._ p. 176. 32.
_Hab._ Aru; Australia.
Fabricius includes this insect in the genus _Chrysis_; the typical
specimen, however, proves that it belongs to the more modern genus
_Stilbum_: it is very distinct from _S. splendidum_, being much more
strongly and coarsely punctured; and the teeth which arm the apical
segment are differently disposed on the margin.
Fam. TENTHREDINIDÆ, _Leach_.
Gen. ORYSSUS, _Fabr._
1. ORYSSUS MACULIPENNIS. _O._ niger, punctatus; pedibus ferrugineis;
alis fuscis fasciâ hyalinâ ante cellulam marginalem sitâ.
_Female._ Length 5-1/2 lines. Black; the head rugose, the front coarsely
so, with a row of transverse tubercles running from the vertex along the
inner orbits of the eyes, and crossing the front at half their length;
the cheeks with a cinereous down, and a line of silvery-white pubescence
or down, along the outer orbits of the eyes. Thorax coarsely punctured;
the mesothorax with a central longitudinal smooth elevation; wings
fuscous, with a broad transverse hyaline fascia before the base of the
marginal cell, the tips of the wings hyaline; the legs ferruginous, with
the coxæ and trochanters black; the posterior tibiæ with a double row of
serrations outside. Abdomen shining and closely punctured; the base and
apex coarsely so.
_Hab._ Aru.
Gen. XYPHIDRIA, _Latr._
1. XYPHIDRIA RUFIPES. _X._ nigra; mandibulis, antennarum scapo,
pedibusque ferrugineis; alis hyalinis et iridescentibus.
_Female._ Length 4 lines. Black and shining; the vertex highly polished;
the front from the posterior ocelli forwards closely punctured and
opake; the mandibles, scape, and basal joint of the flagellum
ferruginous. The thorax anteriorly punctured and opake, posteriorly
shining, and with a few punctures at the base of the scutellum; wings
hyaline and iridescent, the nervures black, the extreme base of the
wings and the tegulæ pale testaceous; the legs pale ferruginous, with
the claws of the tarsi darker. Abdomen: the base of the segments
depressed and very delicately and closely punctured, subopake; the
apical half highly polished and shining; beneath obscurely rufo-piceous.
_Hab._ Aru.
Gen. TREMEX, _Jurine_.
1. TREMEX INSIGNIS. _T._ nigro-purpureus; abdominis fasciis basalibus
albis; alis nigris cupreo nitentibus.
_Female._ Length 11 lines. Obscure steel-blue, with shades of green,
purple and violet; the head and thorax punctured; the prothorax with an
oblique smooth shining space on each side; the wings very dark brown,
with a brilliant coppery effulgence. The base of the abdomen opake,
velvety, purple-black; the first segment with a transverse
cream-coloured fascia in the middle, the second very slightly whitish at
its base; the rest of the abdomen is highly polished, and has a
scattered, short, black pubescence.
_Hab._ Aru.
Note on Two Insect-products from Persia. By DANIEL HANBURY, Esq., F.L.S.
[Read December 16th, 1858.]
In the month of June last, my friend Professor Guibourt, of Paris, laid
before the Académie des Sciences[G] some account of a remarkable
substance called _Tréhala_, the cocoon of a Curculionidous insect found
in Persia, where, as well as in other parts of the East, it enjoys some
celebrity as the basis of a mucilaginous drink administered to the sick.
Specimens of this substance, as well as of another insect-product of
Persia, together with the insects themselves, were presented a few years
ago to the British Museum by W. K. Loftus, Esq., who obtained them while
engaged by the British Government on the question of the Turco-Persian
boundaries.
The precise determination of the species of these insects being a matter
of doubt, they have at my request been lately examined by M. Jekel, of
Paris, an entomologist with whom the family of _Curculionidæ_ has long
been an especial study. One of these insects M. Jekel has identified
with a species of wide distribution; the other proving undescribed, he
has drawn up a description of it, which, accompanied by a figure, I have
the honour to lay before the Linnean Society. To this, I venture to add
a few observations upon the productions to which I have alluded.
The first of these is _Tréhala_ or _Tricala_, under which name it formed
part of the Collection of Materia Medica sent by M. Della Sudda, of
Constantinople, to the Paris Exhibition of 1855, and since deposited in
the Ecole de Pharmacie in Paris.
_Tréhala_ (fig. 2) consists of cocoons of an ovoid or globular form,
about 3/4 of an inch in length; their inner surface is composed of a
smooth, hard, dusky layer, external to which is a thick, rough,
tuberculated coating of a greyish-white colour and earthy appearance.
Some of the cocoons have attached to them the remains of the tomentose
stalk of the plant upon which they were formed; others have portions of
a tomentose spiny leaf built into them; and, more rarely, one finds
portions of the flowering heads of the plant, a species of _Echinops_,
similarly enclosed. Many of the cocoons are open at one end and empty;
others have a longitudinal aperture, originally closed by the stalk of
the plant, and still contain the insect; a few are entirely closed.
Specimens of this insect, extracted from the cocoons sent to Paris, were
examined in 1856 by my friend Mr. W. Wilson Saunders, who pronounced
them to be _Larinus maculatus_ of Faldermann,--a determination also
arrived at by M. Jekel from specimens presented by Mr. Loftus to the
British Museum. Respecting these latter, one of which is represented in
fig. 1, M. Jekel makes the following remarks:--
"LARINUS MACULATUS, _Faldermann, Faun. Transcauc._ ii. p. 228, 449,
tab. 6. f. 10, et iii. p. 198.--_Schönh. Gen. et Sp. Curcul._ iii.
p. 112 et vii. 2. p. 7.--_Hochhuth, Bull. Moscou_, 1847, No. 2. p.
538 (var. [Greek: gamma]).
"Var. [Greek: gamma]. _Larin. Onopordinis_, Sch. _loc. cit._ iii. p.
111 (excl. synon.).
"Of this species, Mr. Loftus captured several specimens, all of
small size: from some of them the pollinosity had been rubbed off,
as is represented in the figure by Mr. Ford (_vide_ fig. 1), which
shows only a part of the inferior layer of tomentum and the greyish
ground of the dorsal and lateral maculæ; the latter, being the most
densely coloured in fresh specimens, are always the most persistent.
These belong to Schönherr's var. [Greek: gamma], which that author
formerly regarded as the _Larinus Onopordinis_, Fabr. Others of Mr.
Loftus's specimens, which are very fresh, belong to var. [Greek:
beta]; none to the typical variety, which is often larger in size.
"This species has a very extended habitat: I have received it from
European Turkey (Frivaldski), Beyrouth, Caucasus, Persia (Dupont),
&c. &c.; and it is recorded by Schönherr as also found in Barbary
and Portugal.
"This is the insect which proceeds from the rough chalky-looking
nidus figured by Mr. Ford. (_Vide_ fig. 2.)"
The entomological question being so far disposed of, I may be permitted
a few remarks upon the properties which have obtained for _Tréhala_ a
place among drugs and dietetic substances.
The first author who gives any account of the substance is Father Ange,
who, in his 'Pharmacopoea Persica[H],' describes it in the following
terms:--"Est autem istud medicamentum veluti _tragea_ ex nucleo pistacii
integro confecta; nam revera saccharum istud exterius corrugatum et
agglomeratum adhæret cuidam nucleo, in quo non fructus, sed vermiculus
quidam nigricans Persice _C-hezoukek_ bombycis instar reconditur et
moritur."
Father Ange also states that the substance is called in Persian _Schakar
tigal_ ([Persian script]), literally _Sugar of nests_; but his Arabic
names, _Schakar el ma-ascher_ ([Arabic script]) and _Saccar el aschaar_,
apply to an entirely different substance, namely to a saccharine matter
exuded, after the punctures of an insect, from the stems of _Calotropis
procera_, R. Br.[I], of which plant he gives a quaint but tolerably
characteristic description.
Mr. Loftus, who obtained the specimens which he presented to the British
Museum, at Kirrind in Persia, in September, 1851, gives as the Persian
name of the cocoons _Shek roukeh_--a term, probably, the same as the
"_C-hezoukek_" (a misprint?) of Father Ange, but the signification of
which I have not been able to discover.
Another notice of the same substance, with a figure, is briefly given in
Dr. Honigberger's 'Thirty-five Years in the East' (Lond. 1852, vol. ii.
pp. 305-6), where we read that _Manna teeghul_ or _Shukure teeghal_,
which are certain insect-nests of a hard texture, rough on the outside,
smooth within, about half an inch in length, and of a whitish colour,
are imported into Lahore from Hindostan.
M. Bourlier published in 1857 an interesting note on the same
substance[J], which has been followed by M. Guibourt's communication to
the Académie des Sciences, and still later by a memoir on the chemical
history of Tréhala, by M. Marcellin Berthelot, also presented to the
Academy[K].
From the investigations of M. Guibourt, it appears that the cocoons are
composed of a large proportion of starch (identical with that found in
the stem of the _Echinops_, upon which the insect forms its nest), of
gum, a peculiar saccharine matter, a bitter principle, besides earthy
and alkaline salts.
The saccharine principle, which has been especially examined by M.
Berthelot, and named by him _Tréhalose_, is a body analogous to
cane-sugar, but possessing distinctive properties, which separate it
from that and all other varieties of sugar.
M. Bourlier states that _Tréhala_, which is abundant in the shops of the
Jew drug-dealers of Constantinople, is frequently used by the Arab and
Turkish physicians in the form of a decoction, which is regarded by them
as of peculiar efficacy in diseases of the respiratory organs.
The second insect-product to which I would draw attention, is a
saccharine substance resembling dark honey. Mr. Loftus, who obtained it
near Kirrind, 13th July, 1851, and whose specimen is in the British
Museum, states that it is exuded from a species of thistle when pierced
by a Rhynchophorous insect; but he fails to inform us for what purposes
it is used by the inhabitants.
Mr. Loftus having also presented the Museum with excellent specimens
both of the plant and insect, I am able to state that the former is
_Echinops persicus_, Fisch., and the latter a new species of _Larinus_,
to which M. Jekel has applied the name _Larinus mellificus_, and of
which he has drawn up the following description:--