] 76 INSECTS. 



little brood to be not Gallflies, but Ichneumons (insects 

 also belonging to this division, and to be described here- 

 after), which had been deposited as eggs ivithin the Gall- 

 fly young, and, having lived upon their substance, were 

 matured and came forth in their stead. Another instance 

 occurred to the present writer, who, in 1857, found upon 

 the leaves of a wild rose-tree at West Wickham a new 

 and very beautiful little gall, nearly globular, and 

 crowned with spines. This was sent to the British 

 Museum, and from it were hatched two species of 

 Spiculiferous insects. These were supposed to be the 

 Gallfly and its parasite ; and the question was, " which 

 was which ?" The answer was " neither," for the insects 

 both proved to be parasites one probably on the Gallfly 

 larva, the other on the Gallfly's parasite ; so true it is 

 that " big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to 

 bite 'em."* 



Other tenants may be met with in galls ; Mr. Stainton 

 (in the " Zool." 51oO) mentions finding the caterpillars 

 of moths in the mossy rose-gall ;t and also its being a 

 known fact that another moth larva is bred from oak- 

 apples in Germany ; while Mr. Walker enumerates about 

 twenty-five species of insects of the orders Coleoptera, 

 Orthoptera, Neuroptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, and He- 

 miptera, besides five or six species of spiders or acari, 

 which emerged from oak-galls under his observation in 

 one year. These, however, are probably instances of 

 mere cuckoo- like parasitism, as it is not likely that these 

 caterpillars feed on the young gall insects. 



* It may be worth recording, that this gall having been sought in vain 

 for ten years in other places, was looked for on the same rose-tree in 1867, 

 and again found there. 



f From this gall, at least six species of Spiculifera (including the 

 owner) have been reared. 



