172 [January, 



than the 2nd, Head transverse, short, broader than the thorax. Thorax 

 small, compressed ; pronotum separated by a curved suture from the 

 mesonotum ; scutellum flat, inconspicuous ; metanotum very short. 

 Wings none. Abdomen three times longer than the thorax, elevated 

 and carinated above, much compressed ; the 1st segment forming a 

 third of its entire length, the other segments nearly equal. Exserted 

 part of the ovipositor as long as the abdomen, slightly curved upwards. 



BiOEHizA, Westw., Introd. Synops., vol. ii., p. 56. 

 Apophtllus, Hartig, in Germ. Zeits., ii., p. 193 ; iv., p. 409. 

 Walker, Ent. Mag., 3, 167, No. xxiv.; (J included by mistake. 



Biorhiza aptera, Fab. 



Testaceous ; eyes, tips of the mandibles, antennae in the middle, 



and often at the apex also, and the segments of the abdomen after the 



first, more or less, blackish. Glabrous above ; the sides, coxae and 



femora with pale pubescence. Head very finely and thickly punctulate. 



A short ridge extends from the origin of the antennae nearly to the 



ocelli. Pronotum punctulate. Disc of the mesonotum oval, shining, 



very minutely punctulate. Metanotum less shining, and with three 



short elevated ridges. Petiole short, punctulate, $ . 



Long 2i— 3| lin. 



This insect is well known, and numerous references to authors who 



mention it might be given, although a detailed description can hardly 



be found. The subterranean monothalamous galls are attached side by 



side to the filaments of the roots of the oak and some other trees. 



They are of a woody consistance, oblong, and somewhat less than half 



an inch in diameter (see Westw. Introd., ii., p. 131). I once found 



them, with a considerable number of the living insects, in January, at 



the roots of an oak near Cheltenham, when the ground was partially 



covered with snow. Their appearance under similar circumstances is 



noticed by Laboulbene (Bull. Soc. Ent. de Er., 1865, p. 5) and Guerin 



(Rev. et Mag. de Zool., 1865, p. 134). 



d. Antennae setaceous, not thickened towards the tips, 14 — 15-jointed 

 (15 — 16-jointed, according to Hartig). 



Genus Ehodites, Hartig. 

 Maxillary palpi 4-, labial palpi 2-articulate. Abdomen ovate, 

 sub-compressed; 1st segment much the longest, occupying three-fourths 

 or more of the entire length of the abdomen. Radial cell short, broad, 

 triangvdar ; areolet not exactly placed at the base, but removed nearer 

 to the middle, of the radial cell ; likewise more remote from the costa 

 than from the middle of the wing. Areolet sometimes obliterat'^'^ 



