NORTH AMERICAN HYMENOPTERA. 83 



By cutting open the galls I have secured a perfectly developed fly 

 of the female sex. The description is as follows : 



Gall-fly.— Entire insect a very dark reddish brown, clear, but not shining, 

 the head lightest. Antennse somewhat du-sky, thirteen joints, first and second 

 short, third one-half longer than the fourth, the remaining joints short, except 

 the thirteentli, which shows an indistinct suture. Thorax darker than the head 

 and easily taken for a dull black on account of the short, evenly disposed and 

 closely appressed hairs that cover it and the scutellum ; parapsidal grooves nar- 

 row and indistinct, hidden in the hairs; lines over the base of tiie wings more 

 distinct, intermediate ridges quite imperceptible. Abdomen smooth and polished, 

 second segment very long and with a few scattered hairs on the sides near the 

 base. Le^s dark red, somewhat paler at the joints; ungues two-toothed. Wings 

 hyaline, veins pale brown; areolet small, cubitus indistinct: radial area open. 

 Length : body, .12 inch. ; wings, .13 inch. ; antennse, .08 inch. 

 Received from Mr. W. J. Howerton. 



^5. A. Maxwelli n. sp. 



Galls polythahimous, but rarely containing more than half a 

 dozen larviB. Globular or oval, though sometimes somewhat irreg- 

 ular in shape. From three-eighths to five-eights of an inch in di- 

 ameter, yellowish brown to dark brown, mostly smooth and shining, 

 but some of ray specimens are slightly rough and opaque. Inter- 

 nally, of a soft pith-like cellular tissue and without distinct larval 

 cells. 



I received these galls many years ago from Mr. W. R. Maxwell, 

 of Palestine, Texas, but did not learn from what species of oak they 

 were collected, nor whether they were leaf or twig galls, though they 

 are probably the latter. 



Gall-flies. — Male. — Head and thorax black and shining, with an approach to 

 very dark, reddish brown when seen in strong light, beautifully and evenly, but 

 very finely punctate on the vertex and the entire mesonotuni ; antennae fifteen 

 jointed, the first and second joints short, subequal, third a little longer than the 

 two preceding taken together, club-shaped, slightly curved and incised, all the 

 remaining joints gradually shortening and tapering to the end ; mesonotum with 

 two fine parallel lines extending half way from the collare to the scutellum, and 

 a median dorsal line rather more than half way from the scutellum to the collare ; 

 parapsidal grooves very fine, smooth and shining and less convergent than usual ; 

 the lines usually found over the base of the wings are, in this species, reduced to 

 short, oval indentations ; scutellum dull opaque black, and finely rugose, the 

 foveiE widely separated, polislied, large, but not deep. Abdomen with slight 

 tinge of brown, second segment very long, almost concealing the remaining ones. 

 Leqs a uniform brownish yellow, but a shade darker than the antennie, ungues 

 two-toothed. Winas hyaline, veins distinct, first transverse rather heavy and 

 almost black; areolet small, cubitus pale, reaching the first transverse, second 

 transverse angulated at the base of the open radial area, and the stump of a vein 

 almost always present at the point of this angle very prominent in this species, 

 and the second transverse vein stops suddenly before reaching the margin of the 

 wing. Length: body, .11 inch. ; wings. .12 inch. 



