82 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
GARDEN NOTES. 
By CuaupE Mortey, F.Z.S8. 
(Continued from Entom, xlviii, p. 191.) 
11. A Viscid Gall.—Several specimens of the cosmopolitan 
Ichneumonid, Bassus letatorius, were investigating a half-grown 
gall of Rhodites rose upon a young bush of Rosa canina at 6 p.m. 
on August 8th, and drew my attention to another insect lying 
motionless upon the red spicules. ‘This was a dead beetle, 
Cryptocephalus pusillus, Fab., and subsequent examination 
showed that, in some way which I do not understand, what 
appears to be its larva-skin had become attached to one (only): 
branch of the gall in such a manner that the beetle was unable 
to entirely throw it off. The attachment certainly seems to 
have been effected by some viscid excretion of the gall: hardly 
to be included in Darwin’s ‘ Insectivorous Plants’! The beetle 
was upon the top of the gall, and this exposed situation rendered 
it a conspicuous object to marauders, for the antennz with one 
eye and parts of the legs are missing, and were, pérhaps, 
assimilated by some of the above Bassus, though none were 
observed close to it. 
12. Batophila erata, Marsh.—The shortage of sugar has 
caused the almost total abandonment of the blackberries by 
cottagers around here during the past autumn, but has had no 
appreciable effect upon the consumption of the plant by other 
individuals, more appreciative. Here one hardly ever sees a 
lepidopterous larva upon Rubus fruticosus, though Thyatira 
derasa occurs sparingly in the perfect state. Quite different is 
the case with Coleoptera, for that pretty little Halticid, 
Batophila erata, may usually be seen exploring the leaves in 
sparse numbers ; but on October 20th last every leaf had fully 
half-a-dozen tenants. I was strolling through a plantation and 
kept on hearing a slight rustling noise, like fine and gentle rain, 
for which I could not account; but upon tracing it to the 
surrounding brambles, its cause became evident, for here the 
tiny beetles could be seen skipping away in such numbers as to 
render their ‘‘ kick off” perfectly audible. I have been in the 
habit of regarding this as a somewhat local species, but the 
same afternoon it was almost equally abundant in other parts 
of the parish. 
18. Blackberry Tumours. —I1 have no idea of the British 
frequency of the spindle-shaped, strumous excrescences, more 
usually expansions, upon the stems of Rubus (R. fruticosus and 
R. ideus are also recorded, but all mine were, I believe, upon 
R. cesius, the dewberry), and I should ‘like readers’ experiences 
upon the subject. They would appear to be overlooked or 
scarce, though ‘local with wide a range,” for Marshall knew one 
