THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 247 
detected, I would suggest the name of Cynips Quercus- 
gemme,* as the parent insect deposits its eggs in the buds 
themselves, and the galls are produced at the expense of the 
buds. I do not see cause for such alarm as one would 
be led to suppose through reading an article in the ‘Gardener's 
Chronicle’ some short time since. It is true the insect is 
very injurious to the young trees in particular. In the two 
large nurseries in Exeter the young trees are sadly distorted, 
and they cannot make headway against the enemy ; but once 
turn the galls into use, and they will disappear much faster 
than they have been produced. I before stated, in the letter 
read by Mr. Stainton, that it is rare to see the galls above ten 
feet from the ground, but the nearer the ground the thicker 
the galls, and on the little twigs lying on and just above the 
surface of the ground nearly every bud has been metamor- 
phosed into a gall; as you ascend they gradually diminish 
in number, until the line may be drawn at ten feet, above 
which only a few stragglers can be found. The winter before 
this last the tomtits had found out the secret of what was in 
these galls, for they were never at a loss fora meal. When 
the ground was covered with snow I have seen numbers of the 
blue-headed titmouset working away at the galls in search of 
the fine fat larve of the Cynips; and this winter the titmice 
appear to have been more destructive to the larve, for now 
in a short walk you may find hundreds, nay, thousands, that 
have been picked to pieces to get at the insect within. 
Should these galls be turned to account for the manufacture 
of ink, being so near the ground they could be easily gathered 
by children, so that the cost would be very trifling. It is said 
by the writers in the ‘Gardener’s Chronicle’ that the galls 
diminish the crop of acorns: now I cannot believe this, 
because, as I said before, it is uncommon to find them on 
* This is the Linnean name for another species. 
+ In the ‘Field’ newspaper, September, 1871, Mr. H. B. Murray informs 
us that the galls in question “are opened by squirrels, and not by titmice, as 
stated by Mr. Parfitt;” adding :—“ I have myself seen the ground under the 
oak-trees strewn with the fragments of these galls, and there could be no doubt 
of squirrels being the operators, as they were seen in the act.” I have no 
ground for differing from Mr. Murray as to squirrels; but I entirely agree 
with Mr. Parfitt as to titmice: I have seen titmice of the species Ceruleus, 
Ater, and Palustris, engaged on them. 
t I have written rather a long paper on this subject—* Titmice and Galls” 
—in the ‘ Field’ newspaper. 
