THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Vol. XV.] OCTOBEE, 1882. [No. 233. 



OBSERVATIONS UPON OUR PLANT-MINING AND GALL- 

 MAKING DIPTERA AND HYMENOPTERA IN 188-2. 



By Peter Inchbald, F.L.S. 



March 10th. — The deflected rosettes on small bushes of 

 Salix caprcEa gave forth their tenants, which continued to emerge 

 dui'ing the whole of the month of March. The gall-gnats bear 

 considerable resemblance to Cccidomyia rosaria of the vertical 

 rosette, which is fully a month later in putting on its wings. 

 The deflection of the branches that bear the rosette is very 

 remarkable, the stems sometimes offering the appearance of a 

 loop. One bush gave me a score such deflected leaf-tufts, and 

 not a single upright one was visible on the bush. 



March 24th. — A hymenopteron {Cryptocampus p)cntandrcB, 

 Ketz.) first emerged from woody galls of Salix pentandra, a 

 somewhat local northern willow. The galls, which vary in size 

 from a hazel-nut to an almond, contain about ten tenants, which 

 exist as larvte till the winter, pupating in the spring of the year. 

 The}^ continue to appear as imagines during March and April. 

 According to Mr. Fitch the Crijptocampits is identical with the 

 one described so accuratel}' by Thomson. I bred nearly a 

 hundred from the galls I had gathered before the winter. 



March 26th. — Cccidomyia hctuUe came forth in fair abundance 

 from the catkins of the birch of the previous year. It utilises 

 the winged seed as food and shelter, modifying it to its wants. 

 The pupa is enclosed in a thin, white, papery case. The imago 

 puts on wings between 7 and 8 o'clock a.m., if the morning be 

 bright and sunny. I saw several emerge, and in about half an 

 hour the transformation-scene is at an end. The termination of 

 the oviduct of the little red gnat is white, as stated by Walker. 



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