98 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
The blunt point of the cone by which it is attached to the 
twig is somewhat flattened; the base of the cone, viz. the 
upper end of the gall, forms an almost circular, flat disk, in 
the centre of which there is often found a small excrescence. 
This disk is one centimetre in diameter, and has a well- 
defined border, often quite sharp; on this border there are 
generally several projections pointing outwards, and termi- 
nating ina sharpish point. At first the gall is green, but later 
turns to a yellowish brown. In the section beneath the disk 
there is a large, spherical inner gall, coarsely striated, thick- 
walled, and hard, which touches the moderately hard gall- 
substance on all sides, but is not joined to it. If that part of 
the gall near the twig (just below the inner gall) contains 
parasitic larvee, then the gall assumes a cylindrical shape, as 
the parasites occasion a swelling in the lower part of the gall. 
In most cases the development of the Cynips larva is not 
disturbed by the Synergus larva, so that the gall-maker and 
the parasite may be bred from the same gall. I found the 
Cynips quite mature in the first half of October, while the 
gall was still green; but, according to my observations, it 
does not emerge till the end of October or the beginning of 
November. Cynips subterranea, Gir., certainly belongs to 
this species, as Dr. Giraud tells me that this gall is only a 
modified form of C. polycera. The specimens which I have 
received from him differ from C. polycera in their smaller 
size, and by their being attached to under-ground twigs, or 
those which are more or less covered with moss or leaves.— 
G. L. Mayr. 
This remarkable gall was first figured by Malpighi (‘ Opera 
Omnia,’ i. 123, fig. 50), but was not noticed from his time till 
Giraud described the insect and gall anew in 1859 (Verh. d. 
zool.-botan. Ges. ix. 340). Neither this species nor the 
preceding have occurred in Britain. Synergus melanopus, 
S. pallicornis, and Ceroptres arator, are its inquilines, all 
appearing in April and May of the second year. Callimome 
regius and Megastigmus dorsalis are probably both parasitic 
on the gall-maker. Dr, Mayr notices the interesting fact 
that the position of the Synergus does not interfere with 
the gall-maker: this is contrary to the history of the 
greater number of galls, as in most cases the inquilines 
(Synergi) cause the death of the Cynips, either by its 
