Diastrophus rubl. 



When searching for these galls the hands should be thickly 

 gloved, or painful scratches will be one result. They may 

 often be easily observed on the arch of a long bramble stem 

 rising above its surroundings, but they are more often low 

 down in the bush, or in the middle of a hedge, in a position 

 requiring a patient search and time and perseverance to secure. 

 They are difficult galls from which to rear the imagines and 

 parasites. After the stem is severed from the root, growth 

 ceases, even though placed in water, and the contraction and 

 hardening of the stem prevents the larva; from pupating or 

 the imagines from emerging. It is advisable to search for 

 the galls during January to April inclusive, or to transplant 

 the stem with its roots to one's garden or a large flower-pot. 

 The swellings of the stem are variable in the length they occupy. 

 Although seldom less than i in., they may be found 6 and 

 7 in. long. The cells being situated on the side of the stem, 

 or completely encircling it, cause growths varying in girth from 

 a few millimetres to 60 mm. The author has a slender stem 

 measuring only 10 mm. in girth which is swollen by the cells to 

 38 mm. in girth. The colour is greatly subject to the en- 

 vironment of the plant and the situation of the galls upon it. 

 Specimens from the middle of a thick hedge will be much 

 paler than those more exposed to the vagaries of the weather. 

 Some also will be thickly beset with thorns, and others devoid 

 of them. 



The illustration is of specimens gathered at Hastings and 

 Aylsham by the author. 



