170 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
containing either its inquilines or parasites. The only Chalcid 
I can find recorded as parasitic on this species is Eupelmus 
azureus, by Ratzeburg, in his ‘Die Ichneumonen.’ Like 
many of the bud-galls this species has been confounded with 
many others by different authors, more especially with 
A. albopunctata; in fact these species were only satisfactorily 
separated in 1865 by Schlechtendal, and then he afterwards 
mistook them the one for the other. This gall was first 
described as British by Mr. Cameron (E. M. M. x. 85), under 
Hartig’s name, Ferruginea, who found them in Cadder Wood, 
near Glasgow. I have also received the true Solitaria from 
Mr. G. B..Rothera, who, with his friend Dr. Ransom, has 
found it in Nottinghamshire.—Z. A. Fitch. 
The Breeding of Gall-flies. By KE. A. Fitcu, Esq. 
THE flies may be bred from some galls very readily by 
merely placing them into a chip or any other box, and letting 
them bide their time, but others require more attention and 
care, e.g., the succulent galls of Baccarum (the currant oak- 
gall), Curvator (the kidney oak-gall), ‘Terminalis (the common 
oak-apple), Megaptera (the oak-trunk gall), and many others, 
which if collected in damp weather, or are slightly immature 
and full of sap, are almost sure to mould; in such cases the 
better way is to leave them in the room for a day before 
putting them away, and then to remove their covering every 
day fora short time. I have found the thistle-gall of Urophora 
Cardui very troublesome. 
The plan which recommends itself I think before all others 
is one used I believe extensively by the breeders of Micro- 
Lepidoptera, and which answers for galls admirably ; that is 
to procure some common gallipots and rub them down, so as 
to have a smooth edge, on which a piece of good glass will 
fit closely, and in this receptacle, which will be almost air- 
tight, the galls may be kept; it is very convenient also for 
examination, as the presence of mould or the exit of insects 
may be seen at once, and the escape of the flies, if the pot be 
ground smooth, will be impossible, which is not always the 
case with various boxes; of course anything may be substi- 
tuted for the gallipot, if it has a smooth edge and flat top. 
