146 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Fig. 11. 



into a club of the same tint; in appearance it resembles 

 a blossom-bud, and is from four to seven millemelres in 

 diameter, with a spongy interior, the upper extremity being 

 conical, and terminating in a point; therefore as these 

 conical projections constitute the exterior surface of the 

 gall, and as each club radiates, they form altogether a 

 spherical or hemispherical gall covered with short cones. 

 The individual clubs are so closely fastened together that 

 it is impossible to introduce the point of a pin into the 

 gall without damaging its structure. When in a fresh green 

 state, as I have found it in May, it may be readily detached, 

 but the dead gall, when found at midsummer, is so hard and 

 brittle that in attempting to cut or detach il in dry weather 

 the clubs are very liable to separate and come off. The gall- 

 maker has assumed the perfect state in December, but does 

 not emerge and use its wings until the following March. — G. 

 L. Mayr. 



Cynips Truncicola. — This spherical gall is found, although 



rarely, on the branches and twigs of 



Quercus pubescens, and is always 



seated on growing buds. It is about 



the size of a pea, or perhaps a little 



larger; it is of a brownish black 



colour, with a deeply-furrowed surface ; 



between these clefts the inner gall is 



frequently visible. The fissured part, 



covering the inner gall like a layer of 



bark, is remarkable for the somewhat 



symmetrical form which it assumes, 



appearing as equilateral triangles, 



Cynips Teuncicola. meeting each other at central points: 



Seen above and sideways, on the basal half of the gall this bark- 



and with some magnified i • i i • ^ . • i 



under-facets. layer IS cracked into triangular, square, 



and sometimes almost circular, divi- 

 sions. The interior gall is horny and thin; it has a rough, 

 tuberculated surface, and contains one large larva-cell. Both 

 my description and figure are made from type specimens, 

 which Dr. Giraud had the kindness to send me. He thinks 

 it possible that this gall may prove a crippled form of Cynips 

 Hartigi. — C. L. Mayr. 



