110 [October, 



old galls, but it is well described by Giraud in liis paper on galls (Ycrh. Zool. Bot. 

 Q-esell., ix, 354) : his descriptiou is too long to bo translated. I hope to find fresh 

 galls and breed the insect, but have failed to find any more traces of it at present. 



Dr. Griraud erected the new genus Dri/ocosmus for this insect, on the shape of 

 the scutellum in the imago, which he only obtained by cutting them out of the galls, 

 only breeding Synergi and ChalcididcB in the natural way. 



Aphilothrix glohuli, Kart. (N. E., yii, 24). — This is one of the bud-galls of the 

 oak of which, I believe, wc have several species in Britain. It is green ; and, being 

 found in the late autiunn and winter, is easily seen in the terminal shoots contrasting 

 with the brown twigs and bud scales. Bald, almost round, terminating at the apex 

 in a small point, seated rather deeply in the bud, but falling to the ground when 

 mature. The gall-fly appears in February according to Hartig, but, although I found 

 the galls commonly, and collected many specimens, I failed to breed the Aphilothrix ; 

 probably the inner gall withered through being collected too early. I found the 

 galls in the beginning and middle of December in the Hadleigh Woods near here. 



Aphilothrix albojmnctata, Schl. — It was on the 3rd of July this year that I first 

 noticed some rather large bud-galls on the one-year-old twigs of Q. peduneulata 

 stubs ; tliese were the galls of A. albopunctata. They do not appear to occur on 

 trees, as I have searched for them there repeatedly without success ; some of the 

 galls were empty as early as that date, their inmates, most probably parasites, having 

 emerged. The galls are mostly dark green in colour, but some two or three were of 

 a bright cream colour, probably bleached, of a conical shape, with slightly raised 

 striae from the apex to the base, and frosted with white spots in some specimens ; 

 they occur on the twigs, and are only surrounded just at the base by the small bud 

 scales, so that they can easily be seen when looked for where they occur. I found two 

 double specimens, otherwise the galls arc monothalamous. 



From fifteen galls I have bred thirty-two insects, all parasites, viz. : sixteen 

 Si/nergiis facialis, Hart, (seven <J and nine ?), one Pteromalus sp.l six Pteromaliis 

 sp. ? seven Uurt/toma squamea, and two Eiipehnus urozontis, Dim. I have three galls 

 which I hope contain the gall-maker, as Schlechtendal gives November as the month 

 in which it appears ; he also says the galls fall in May, but I fomid them on the 

 twigs as late as the end of July. The parasites were named by Mr. Walker. 



Aphilothrix callidoma, Hart. — When looking for more galls of the last species 

 on the 27th of July, I found one gall of this, from which the imago emerged on the 

 3rd of August. I watched it cut its way through the side of the wall of the gall ; 

 it was about two hours fi-om the time I first noticed it. 



The gall is green, about as large as a barleycorn, spindle-shaped, and seated at 

 the end of a rather long foot-stalk, pointed at the apex, and covered with a visible 

 pubescence ; in the species before me the pedicle is four lines long, the gall (which is 

 monothalamous) three Imcs ; the pedicle emanates from an aborted bud on a one- 

 year-old twig. Giraud says the gall may be found throughout the summer and 

 autumn. Mayr has only found it in the autumn, so I hope to obtain more specimens, 

 but have not done so at present, although I liave searched for some hours on the same 

 stubs on which I obtained this one gall.— E. A. Fitcit, Ealeigh, Essex: 2Uh 

 August, 1874. 



