THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 247 



detected, I would suggest the name of Cynips Quercus- 

 gemmae,* as the parent insect deposits its eggs in the buds 

 themselves, and tlie galls are produced at the expense of the 

 buds. 1 do not see cause lor such alarm as one would 

 be led to suppose through reading an article in the 'Gardener's 

 Chronicle' some short time since. It is true the insect is 

 very injurious to the young trees in particular. In the two 

 large nurseries in Exeter the young trees are sadly distorted, 

 and they canjiot make headway against the enemy ; but once 

 turn the galls into use, and they will disappear much faster 

 than they have been produced. 1 before stated, in the letter 

 read by Mr. Stainton, that it is rare to see the galls above ten 

 feet from the ground, but the nearer the ground the thiclier 

 the galls, and on the little twigs lying on and just above the 

 surface of the ground nearly every bud has been metamor- 

 phosed into a gall ; as you ascend they gradually diminish 

 in number, until the line may be drawn at ten feet, above 

 which only a few stragglers can be found. The winter before 

 this last the tomtits had found out the secret of what was in 

 these galls, for they were never at a loss for a meal. When 

 the ground was covered with snow I have seen numbers of the 

 blue-headed titmousef working away at the galls in search of 

 the fine fat larvae of the Cynips ; and this winter the titmice 

 appear to have been more destructive to the larvae, for now 

 in a short walk you may find hundreds, nay, thousands, that 

 liave been picked to pieces to get at the insect within.;]; 

 Should these galls be turned to account for the manufacture 

 of ink, being so near the ground they could be easily gathered 

 by children, so that the cost would be very trifling. It is said 

 by the writers in the 'Gardener's Chronicle' that the galls 

 diminish the crop of acorns : now I cannot believe this, 

 because, as I said before, it is uncommon to find them on 



* This is the Liunean name for another species. 



+ In the 'Fio.kl' newspaper, September, 1871, Mr. H. B. Murray informs 

 us that the galls in question " are opened by squirrels, and not by titmice, as 

 stated by Mr. Parfitt;" adding: — '■ I have myself seen the ground under the 

 oak-trees strewn with the iragmeuts of these galls, and there could be no doubt 

 of squirrels being the operators, as they were seen in the act." I have no 

 ground for differing from Mr. IMurray as to squirrels; but I entirely agree 

 with Mr. Parfitt as to titmice: I have seen titmice of the species Cieruleus, 

 Ater, and Palustris, eugaged on them. 



+ 1 have written rather a long paper on this subject — " Titmice and Galls" 

 — in the 'Held' newspaper. 



