'8-'-i 225 



AspHONDTLiA ULicis, Traill, Scot. Nut., ii, 172 (1873). 



<? ? ; brovrnisli-black, paler on the breast-sides and about tlie humeri ; frons, 

 face, and palpi yellowish ; abdomen shining dark brown, sides generally paler, male 

 genitalia yellowish, of moderate size, ovipositor rather short, needle-shaped, deep 

 yellow ; antennfB in both sexes 13 (2 and 11) jointed, not quite so long as the body, 

 blackish, each joint after the two basal ones slightly decreasing in length up to tlio 

 two last joints, which are equal, stouter, and distinctly shorter than the rest, thus 

 forming a slight knob ; the antenuse of the female ^eem slightly the longest. The 

 halteres and legs in dried specimens are generally yellowish, the tarsi being darker, 

 but they xary in all stages up to blackish-brown, the coxa; being somewhat greyish. 

 "Wings iridescent, slightly greyish, the third longitudinal vein ending in the tip of 

 the wing, being slightly curved near its tip, the small transverse veinlet which should 

 connect this vein with the one above it near its base seems altogether absent, at 

 least, I am unable to detect it in the eight specimens I have before me ; the insect 

 in best condition has the costa densely fringed with blackish-yellow hairs, and the 

 disc of the wing moderately clothed with dark coloured hairs, but all these seem to 

 rub off very easily. 



Length, 2^ lines ; expanse of wings, about 5 lines. 



All the above notes are made from dried specimens. 



Bred from galk which closely resemble flower-buds, but which 

 are larger and more inflated ; " monothalamous, enclosing a large cavity 

 " in which there is not a trace o£ the inner whorls of the flower. Walls 

 "lined with a short white pubescence, on which the larva feeds" 

 (Traill, I. c). I expect this species is very common, but overlooked, 

 as the first time I searched for it after making its acquaintance at 

 Aberdeen, I found it in abundance, though nearly 500 miles away. 

 In some of the galls at Bournemouth was a large whitish larva, many 

 times the size of the Asphondi/I ia larva, from which came I suppose 

 some TTynienopterous parasites which I found when looking at some 

 old galls in a box. Query — can they get suificieut nourishment from 

 one larva or gall ? 



I believe this is the first gall reported to be found on the furze 

 ( Ulex europceus) ; but though, the genus Asphondylia is still a very 

 small one, species of similar habits are described from Snrothamnus 

 scoparius, Cijlisits austriitciis, Genial a gernianica, and Ononis ajnnosa ; 

 A. snrothanini, Lw., i.s smaller than A. uliciSjUnd lias different antenna), 

 the male having them 2 and i;f jointed, with the Icrmiual joint only 

 verv small ami round, wliih' the female has thcni 2 and 12 juinled, 

 much shorter than in Ihe male, and still Hmallcr at the tip ; the ovi- 

 positor seems also much longer. A. ojtiai, Frfhl., is about the right 

 size, but has the antennaj 2 and 10 jointed, with the terminal joint 

 short, A. gpnisfcr, JiW., is also about the riglit size or even larger, but 



