163 



Cryptogamic plants and galls formed by insects, Mr. Berkeley thus 

 describes tlie subject of the present memoir. 



" On the occasion of making me a most kind offer of collecting Fungi for my her- 

 barium, in Australia, Mr. MacLcay was so good as to transmit to me for examination 

 a leaf studded with the productions in question. 



" The discovery of the exuviae in some of them, in addition to a microscopic exa- 

 mination, placed it beyond all doubt that I had before me the production of an insect. 



" Twenty or more individuals are produced on the same leaf (in that before me 

 twenty-three), the upper surface of which is furnished with a strong shining cuticle. 

 As soon as the presence of the grub has caused the tissue immediately around it to 

 swell, and to detach itself above and below, by a sort of concentration, from the cuti- 

 cle, there is an evident attempt, as it enlarges, exactly as in ^cidium cancellatum and 

 other allied epiphytal Fungi, to burst indifferently through either surface, but, appa- 

 rently, it is in general unable to overcome the superior resistance of the upper cuticle, 

 though that is somewhat raised and occasionally a little ruptured, and consequently 

 forces its way through the hypophyllous cuticle, splitting it into a few subacute lacinise. 



" Each gall is cylindrical, about a line long, and consists of two distinct substan- 

 ces, the outer of which is dark brown, and evidently a continuation of the inner sub- 

 stance of the leaf ; the inner much paler, thinner, shining and horny, as is indeed the 

 case in many galls. The apex is strongly umbilicate with the border, which is formed 

 of the outer coat, slightly expanded, and furnished with a few shallow, obtuse, dis- 

 tinct crenulations. At the bottom of the umbilicus is a nipplelike operculum. The 

 operculum is solid and formed of the outer coat, but is intimately connected with the 

 top of the inner horny sac, which is very thin above, and thus forms a lid to it, which 

 fits on exactly where the outer suddenly diverges from the inner coat, so that little re- 

 sistance is offered to the egress of the insect, except that of the upper portion of the 

 inner coat, which, as said above, is extremely thin, and, at the point where the oper- 

 culum fits on, very brittle. There is sometimes a little punctiform depression at the 

 top of the operculum, which is probably the scar of the puncture made by the ovipo- 

 sitor of the insect. Seventeen of the galls were already burst ; and out of the remain- 

 ing six, one only furnished an imperfect grub, and this being exceedingly light and 

 dry, was unfortunately lost whilst the drawing was in progress. Several of the other 

 galls had the remains of exuviae, but too imperfect to furnish any information. I am 

 not aware that there is any instance on record of a gall bursting through the cuticle ; 

 and the operculum is very singular." p. 576. 



Art. XL. — Synopsis of the Coleopterous genus Cerapterus. By .Ton n 

 O. Westwood, F.L.S., &c. 



The author makes the genus to consist of six sub-genera, and eight 

 species. 



Sub-genus 1, Cerapterus proper, is distinguished by a very broad 

 prothorax, with rounded sides ; very broad antennae, serrated laterally, 

 and having the terminal joint very large ; elytra covering the abdo- 

 men ; tibia) very broad, and without internal spine. 



1. Cerapterus laiipes, Swederus. Piceous; elytra with a yellowish, 



m2 



