CYNIPIIXE. 



[ 229 ] 



CYPHELLA, 



bearing so close a resemblance to certain 

 Fungi, that they were at one time supposed 

 to be parasitic vegetable growths. These 

 galls, which are commonly known as oak- 

 spangles, may be met with in abundance 

 during the winter on the fallen leaves in oak 

 woods : the flies are produced in the spring ; 

 and the^ most abundant species in this 

 country is the Neuroteris longipennis (fig. 

 19). The root of the oak is attacked by 

 several kinds, one of which, Biorhiza aptera, 

 the parthenogenetic form of Teras termi- 

 nalis, is destitute of wings; another de- 

 posits its eggs in the male catkins of the 

 same tree, producing a series of galls re- 

 sembling a small bunch of currants. 



It would be impossible for us here to 

 enumerate the different kinds of galls pro- 

 duced by these beautiful little insects even 

 upon our indigenous plants and trees, the 

 history of which in many cases is very im- 

 perfect, whilst we have scarcely any in- 

 formation with regard to exotic species. 

 The most important of all is the common 

 gall-nut, which is produced by the puncture 

 of the Cynips tinctoria upon the shoots of 

 the Quercus infectoria y a species of oak 

 growing in the Levant. The celebrated 

 Dead-sea apples are also found upon this 

 oak j they are as large as a good-sized apple, 

 and of a spongy texture internally, con- 

 taining only a single larva of a species which 

 has been described by Westwood under 

 the name of Cynips insana. 



All the species of Cynipidae do not, how- 

 ever, produce galls. The species of Hartig's 

 genus Synergus deposit their eggs in other 

 galls, upon the substance of which the 

 larvae, when hatched, feed parasitically, and 

 finally devour the original tenant. Besides 

 these species, which live partly upon vege- 

 table and partly upon animal food, there are 

 many others, forming several genera in 

 Hartig's classification, which live entirely 

 as parasites upon other insects, especially 

 Aphides and the larvae of Dipterous flies ; 

 thus justifying the otherwise anomalous 

 position of the Cynipidae, as a phytophagous 

 family in the Entomophagous group of the 

 Hymenoptera. Amongst these we need 

 only mention the species of the genus Allo- 

 tria, Westw. (Xystus, Hartig), of which a 

 very abundant one is parasitic upon the rose- 

 Aphis, and those of the genera Anacharis, 

 Figites, and Ibalia. The latter, of which one 

 species only is known in this country, is 

 remarkable from the structure of its abdo- 

 men, which is knife-shaped, and has the 



segments nearly equal in length; Ibalia 

 cultellata (PI. 36. fig. 20) is one of the largest 

 British Cynipidae. 



Adler's admirable memoir, in which 

 many of the galls are figured, will allow of 

 the identification of most, if not all the 

 British kinds. 



BIBL. Reaumur, Memoires-, Burgsdorf, 

 Schriften Gesellsch. naturforsch. Freunde, 

 iv. ; Boyer de Fonscolombe, Ann. Sc. Nat. 

 xxvi. ; Westwood, Introd. vol. ii., Mag. 

 Nat. Hist. vi. and viii., and in Guerin's Mag. 

 Zoologie ; Walker, Ent. Mag. ii. & iii. ; 

 Brandt and Ratzeburg, Medizin. Zool. ii. ; 

 Ratzeburg, Forst-Insecten ; Bouche", Natur- 

 gesch. d. Insecten ; Hartig in Germar's Ze.its. 

 fur die Entomol. ; Adler, Zeitschr. wiss. 

 Zool. liii. 151 ; Abridg. McLachlan, Entom. 

 Mn. Mag. 1881, xvii. 258; Jn. Mic. Soc. i. 

 443 ; Ormerod, Man. Inj. Ins., 1881. 



OYNODON'TIUM, Br. and Sch.=Di- 



CBANTJM. 



BIBL. Wilson, Bi-yol. Brit. 60. 



CYNOPHAL'LUS. A genus of Phal- 

 loidei (Gasteromycetous Fungi), distin- 

 guished from Phallus by having the pileus 

 imperforate. 



C. caninm occurs amongst decayed leaves 

 in woods. 



BIBL. Sow. t. 330 ; Berk. Outl. p. 298. 



CYNTHIA, Sav. A genus of Tunicate 

 Mollusca, of the family ASCIDIADJE. 



The numerous species are from |-2" in 

 length. 



BIBL. That of the familv. 



CYPHEL'LA, Fries. A genus of Hy- 

 menomycetes (Basidiomycetous Fungi), 



Fig. 152. 



Fig. 153. 



Cyphella Taxi. 



Fig. 152. Entire plant, magnified 10 diameters. 

 Fig. 153. Horizontal section of the wall of the cup , 

 showing the basidiospores, magnified 250 diameters. 



forming somewhat membranous minute 

 cups, sessile or stalked upon branches of 

 trees or upon mosses; bearing basidio- 

 spores on a layer forming a kind of lining 

 to the cup; the spores ultimately sepa- 

 rating as a powder in the interior. 



Some supposed species of Peziza, as P. 

 villosa and P. albo-violascens, appear to be 

 species of Cyphetta, or rather sporiferous 

 states of Peziza, 



