244 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Gall on Elder OP Bourtree (Sambncus nigra, L.). In July 

 1892 Dr. Buchanan White sent me from near Perth galled flower 

 buds of this plant, which were recorded and described in the Annals 

 (July 1892, p. 265) as probably formed by Diplosis lonicerearnm. 

 Last year I found these galls in plenty on a bush at Kemnay, near 

 the Don, about fifteen miles north-west of Aberdeen ; and in 

 the end of August 1906 it was plentiful on this bush and on another 

 at Sauchen in Cluny, a few miles west of Kemnay. JAMES W. H. 

 TRAIL. 



The Hessian Fly (Mayetiola destructor] in North -Eastern 

 Scotland. This insect, first observed in England, on wheat, in 

 July 1886, was also found in Scotland near Crieff and Inver- 

 ness on barley in that year, and has been occasionally reported 

 as observed in subsequent years, but rarely in such numbers as 

 to be seriously hurtful. This year, however, it appears to have 

 been abundant in the north-east of Scotland on barley. In the 

 end of July portions of injured stems were sent to me from a 

 farmer in Banffshire, near Turriff, with a request for information 

 as to the cause of injury, which was shown to be this midge by the 

 pupae ; and on inquiry I was informed that the barley fields in that 

 neighbourhood were widely infected. I spent August in Midmar, 

 and found the insect's work very evident in every field of barley there, 

 and in all the parishes for some distance around in the valleys of 

 both Dee and Don. I saw no larvae, but the pupae were only 

 too numerous. The injured stems in some fields were under 

 5 per cent ; but in a few places they seemed to reach upwards of 

 20 per cent, the average lying between 5 and 10 per cent. A 

 large proportion of the stems had the seeds more or less 

 formed, but they did not appear to ripen. In many plants the 

 injury to the chief stem had led to the growth of one or more shoots 

 from its base, which bore small heads, but were so much behind 

 the uninjured stems in their growth as to have no likelihood of 

 ripening or of making good the loss to the crop. Probably the 

 pest has been observed in other districts also this year in greater 

 abundance than usual. JAMES W. H. TRAIL. 



Census Moss Catalogue of the British Isles. A Committee of 

 the Moss Exchange Club is preparing a Census Catalogue, recording 

 the distribution of Mosses in the British Isles, and would be glad to 

 hear from any bryologists who can render assistance. Communica- 

 tions to be addressed to Professor T. Barker, Woodlea, Lightwood, 

 Buxton. The Committee is H. N. Dixon, T. Barker, W. Ingham, D. 

 A. Jones, R. H. Meldrum, W. E. Nicholson, Rev. C. H. Waddell, 

 J. A. Wheldon, and S. M. Macvicar. Further assistance to improve 

 the lately published Census Hepatic Catalogue will be welcomed by 

 W. Ingham, 52 Haxby Road, York. W. INGHAM, Hon. Sec. Moss 

 Exchange Club. 



