224 THE WOODLANDS. 



very numerous ; at one extreme of the series is the 

 true gall, a growth of constant and definite form, at- 

 tached to the plant by a very small portion of its 

 surface, and at the other extreme a simple deforma- 

 tion, as for instance the folding of a leaf, the swelling 

 of the veins of a leaf, or the arrest of the growth of a 

 bud or a stalk. Several attempts have been made to 

 classify the insects according to the nature and shape 

 of these malformations. 



The injury which these minute insects inflict is out 

 of all proportion to their size. One little fly not a 

 line in length, and with a larva scarce half the size of 

 a caraway-seed, attacks the twigs of osier willows, 1 

 and perforate them to such an extent as to render 

 them wholly unfit for basket-making. The little flies 

 when on the wing swarm about the low boggy places 

 where osiers are cultivated. It is very customary for 

 country people to call all the little two-winged flies 

 " midges," which congregate in flocks, but these are 

 much more commonly Ephemera. 



Another of the " midges " attacks the larger wil- 

 lows, and this is a little larger than the preceding 

 species. 2 The bark flakes off, or is bored so as to 

 be easily removed, and then the surface of the wood 

 is found to be burrowed into a number of elongated 

 cells, in each of which a minute orange maggot will 

 be found. This little pest is scarcely so large as a cara- 

 way-seed, which it resembles in shape, being entirely 

 destitute of legs. From this condition it passes into 

 the pupa stage. When ready to emerge as a perfect 



1 Ceddomyia mmlnalis. 2 Cecidomyia saliciperda. 



