Stenobrncon deesae (Cam.) is an important ectophagous larval parasite of the lepidopterous borers of sugarcane and maize in India. Cherian and Israel (1938) have worked out the biology of the parasite. A technique for the mass propagation of the parasite on a laboratory host has been recently developed in the Parasite Laboratory of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (Narayanan and Venkatranian, 1952). The present paper deals with the structure of the ovipositor and the accessory organs and the process of oviposition in this braconid. TECHNIQUE.Specimens were killed in benzene vapour and the abdomen of the female was kept in 10 per cent. cold KOH solution for ten to twelve hours. The genitalia, after clearing, were mounted in balsam without staining. For a study of the musculature freshly killed specimens were used, and dissections were rr?ade in physiological salt solution under a binocular microscope, after cutting open the abdomen from the dorsal side. The material for section cutting was fixed in Kahle's fluid and sections were cut 6p thick. MECHANISM OF OVIPOSITION. Structure of the Ovipositor and Associated Parts.The terminology used by Snodgrass (1933) has been followed throughout the paper. The abdomen of the female Stenobracon contains nine functional segments. The post-genital segment is represented by the proctiger (fig. 1, Ptgr). The seventh, eighth and ninth segments are free and are articulated with the help of broad inter-segmental membranes.The ovipositor is longer than the body (Pl. I, fig. 3) and extends out from the abdomen between the proctiger and the seventh sternite ( fig. 1, Ovp.). The seventh sternite projects beneath the base of the ovipositor to form a large pIate called the subgenital plate ( fig.

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