Lasioptera rubi. 



The size of these galls is very variable. From that of a 

 mere swelling they attain dimensions the girth of which is often 

 six or more times that of the stem upon which they are growing 

 The length of the swelling which they cause seldom exceeds i^ in. 

 The gall-growth usually takes place on the side of the stem, 

 but specimens are occasionally met with where it is evenly 

 distributed all round the stem. Sometimes the parent fly 

 deposits her ova where a small shoot branches off the main 

 stem, a bulbous growth is then the result ; at another time 

 the termination of a shoot is chosen. The interior of the gall 

 shows an irregular-shaped cavity containing from four to seven 

 larvae surrounded by fras. 



These galls are neither easy to find nor to procure, and being 

 usually in the midst of bramble-bushes, where the growth of 

 shrubs and trees is thickest, the search for them is often attended 

 with many scratches. 



The illustration on the opposite page is of specimens gathered 

 at Hastings by the author. 



