323 
within a single nut and so consolidated that it is almost impossible to 
detach a cell entire. 
I have no records of ever finding these galls in any acorns of other 
species than those of the Black Oak group, and with us they are mostly 
confined to the species above named. The winter is passed in the 
mature larva state which the insect apparently attains in a very brief 
period of time after the acorn had been stung. I have not yet been 
so fortunate as to obtain the fly, but Dr. Riley informs me that it was 
bred by Mr. H. G. Hubbard some years ago and has also been reared 
by himself. 
THE ACORN MOTH. 
The remaining species to be considered is the pretty little inquiline 
Blastobasis glandulella Riley, which was originally described under the 
popular name of the “‘ Acorn Moth.” Dr. Riley published his descrip- 
tions of the species in the Canadian Entomologist (vol. Iv, p. 18) and in 
his Fourth Annual Report on the Insects of Missouri. 
The larvais a very lively, slender, subeylindrical caterpillar of a trans- 
lucent pinkish or yellowish-white color with broad, pale brown, corne- 
ous head and shield. It is to be found during winter in a very large 
proportion of the acorns vacated by Balaninus as well as in some of 
those first occupied by Melissopus. After hatching, its first energies 
seem to be devoted to closing the small circular orifice through which 
its predecessor made its exit and into which its Tineid parent had 
dropped the egg that produced it. It seems almost incredible that so 
tiny a larva could spin so much and so dense web as is required for this 
purpose. These larvee, when found following Melissopus, do not seem 
to find, in the débris of the latter, as much or as palatable nutriment 
as that to which they were no doubt originally adapted, for they are, 
as a rule, small and retarded in development, and no doubt, in many 
cases, perish. In the castings and crumbs left by the Curculio, how- 
ever, they find a rich feast which they appropriate but slowly, as the 
growing period lasts through the entire winter. Their own castings are 
webbed into a compact bundle wrapped in white silk on the surface of 
which they rest. 
The transformations usually take place within the acorn, but in some 
instances the larva comes out and spins a tough, oval cocoon among a 
cluster of nuts or against a dry leaf or on the surface of the soil. The 
moths appear at intervals throughout the summer and may be taken in 
the net by sweeping the surface of the ground under oak trees. They 
are also somewhat attracted by lamplight and frequently enter rooms 
at night. 
Of other insects that have been found in acorns may be mentioned 
several specimens of Phycis (Canarsia) hammondi Riley or a species 
closely allied to the latter, which emerged last spring from acorns in 
my rearing jars. The probability in this case is that the larve, which 
