18 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 79 



same gall on Q. alba is plain yellow, like the ^ava from Florida and 

 Texas. The Kinsey specimens from Forest Hills are therefore at 

 best only color varieties of flava. 



I also have two females received through Doctor Kinsey and reared 

 by Dr. J. T. Patterson at Austin, Tex., from the galls of Andricus 

 murtfeldtae Ashmead on Q. breviloha. 



Three females in the National Museum collection were reared at 

 Alexandria, Va., on June 17 from the galls of Andricus -floridensis 

 (Beutenmueller) on Q. digitalis. The generally darker body, particu- 

 larly the black propodeal groove, the brown abdomen, and the deep 

 brown of the submarginal band of these specimens may justify their 

 recognition as a geographic variety if additional material proves that 

 these color variations are constant for specimens from that region. 



One female cut from the gall of Andncus quinquesej)tuni var. from 

 Marco, Lee County, Fla., April 21, 1912, came to me through Doctor 

 Bansey, who determined the gall, from the American Museum of 

 Natural Historj'^ and bears record number F.626.Acc.3973. One fe- 

 male (record No. Q&'°'^) reared on June 28, 1883, from the gall of 

 Disholcaspis globulus (Fitch) {Gynips q.- globulus) ., collected at 

 Providence, K. I., on April 7, 1883, by A. T. Packard, checks with the 

 types. A single female was taken at Lafayette, Ind., by Dr. F. M. 

 Webster. 



3. DECATOMA QUERCI Ashmead 



Decatoma querci Ashmead, Can. Ent., vol. 13, no. 6, p. 135, June, 1881. 



The status of this species is in doubt, for there is no type material 

 and a male labeled Decatoma querci Ashmead, in what is perhaps 

 Ashmead's handwriting, does not agree with the original description. 

 Particularly the head of this male is yellow, whereas Ashmead said 

 •' vertex inclosing ocelli brownish black." This specimen compares 

 favorably with fava Ashmead. Ashmead raised his material " from a 

 dipterous gall on Quercus catesbaei'''' — Quercus laevis Walter — at 

 Jacksonville, Fla., but does not give further facts about the gall. 

 Most oak-inhabiting species of this genus are from cynipid galls. 

 It is possible that Decatoma from dipterous oak galls may be distinct 

 from those in cynipid galls on the same oak species. I, therefore, 

 am inclined to recognize the present species at least tentatively in 

 the hope that new material may be reared from dipterous galls on 

 Q. laevis that may agree with Ashmead's description of qy^rci, and 

 prove this to be a good species. 



The essential features of the original description of D. quern, by 

 Ashmead are here reprinted : 



^aZ^.—" Length 0.12 inch. Head green, slightly yellowish and 

 coarsely punctate, vertex inclosing ocelli brownish black, * * * 

 gula black; antennae * * * pubescent, greenish yellow, third 

 joint dark; thorax coarsely punctate and slightly hairy; coUare 



