XXIV. DESCRIPTION OF A MINUTE HYMENOPTEROUS INSECT FROM CALCUTTA. By N. AnnandaIvE, D.Sc, Superintendent, Indian Museum. On August 25th while I was examining some microscopic specimens in oil of cloves, a minute insect appeared in the field of vision, having fallen into the oil as minute insects often do. An examination showed that this little animal, which is perhaps the smallest insect yet known, belonged to the famil}' M^^rmaridse and was related to the species described and figured by West-wood * as Alaptus excisus.' I have therefore ventured to describe it as the type of a new species of the same genus, for it is unlikely that it will be discovered by any professed student of the Hymenoptera, or, indeed, by anyone not engaged in microscopi-cal work in India. Alaptus magnanimus , sp. no v. (Plate xxiii.) Size very minute (length 0'2i mm. ; expanse, including wing fringe, 0*85 m.vn..). Head viewed from above short and broad, the anterior margin appearing truncate owing to the fact that the anterior face is ver-tical; viewed from in front deep. Antennae minutely hairy, with nine joints (in the &)■, the basal joint subcyHndrical, tapering slightly at the tip, bending upwards and outwards from its point of origin, which is situated far forward on the head ; second joint much shorter, pear-shaped, with the narrow end proximal ; third and fourth. joints subcyHndrical, the latter much the shortest in the antenna ; the other joints (fifth to ninth) pear-shaped, narrower at the base than at the tip, gradually increasing in size. Eyes large, elon-gately oval, separated by more than their own transverse diameter, curved when viewed from the side. Three ocelli, one close to the inner margin of each eye and one in the middle of the vertex ; a minute bristle in front of each of the lateral ocelli. (The mouth parts are not visible in the t5q3e.) Thorax. — Pronotum transverse, angulate, almost linear, pro-duced at either side and bearing at the tip of the projection a bunch of minute hairs Mesothorax much longer, transversely lozenge-shaped but with the posterior angle replaced by a broad concavity. Scutellum narrow, especially in front ; the anterior margin depressedly convex forwards ; a single bristle on either I Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., Zool. (2), vol. i, p. 586, pi. Ixxiii. figs. 10, li (1879)-
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