ANIMAL GALLS. 



403 



into view. Like other ovipositors of this sort, they 

 are composed of a horny substance; but the terminal 

 piece is very different indeed from the same part in 

 the gall-flies, the tree-hoppers ( Cicadce), and the 

 ichneumons, being composed of five points, three of 

 which are longer than the other two, and at first 

 sight not unlike a Jleur-de-Iys, though, upon nar- 

 rower inspection, they may be discovered to termi- 

 nate in curved points, somewhat like the claw of a 

 cat. The two shorter pieces are also pointed, but 

 not curved; and by the union of the five, a tube is 

 composed for the passage of the eggs. 



Ovipositor of the breeze-fly, greatly ma^iifiecl, 

 of the tube, distinct. 



Lh a claw and part 



It would be necessary, Reaumur confesses, to see 

 the fly employ this instrument to understand in what 

 manner it acts, though he is disposed to consider it 



