REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST I914 247 



This gall appears to be very common in different parts of the 

 country, though it is possible that several species of gall flies are 

 responsible for the production of apparently identical vegetable 

 deformities. The gall, as described by Doctor Loew, is a globtilar 

 head i^ to 2 inches in diameter, formed of hundreds of leaves, the 

 exterior ones being only a little altered, the interior more and more 

 narrow. This structure results from the coalescence of several 

 deformed aborted twigs and at the tip of each is a single gall with a 

 compartment, shaped some like a small seed and having in its 

 interior a cavity widened a little below. Rhopalomyia capi- 

 ta t a may prove to be a synonym of this species. Polygnotus 

 species was reared from this or a very similar gall. 



Rhopalomyia laterifiori Felt 

 1908 Felt, E. P. N. Y. State Mus. Bui. 124, p. 364, 365 



This species produces galls in the axils of the leaves of Aster 

 lateriflorus at Lake George. Midges were obtained Sep- 

 tember 6, 1907. Apparently the same gall was found at Annisquam, 

 Mass., by Miss Cora H. Clarke (plate 14, figure 2). Polygnotus 

 species was reared from this gall. 



The axillary gall produced by this species is roimd or slightly 

 irregular and ranges in size from that of a small pea to about 10 mm 

 in diameter. The color is usually greenish, the tip being brown. 



Male. Length 1.5 mm. Antennae as long as the body, sparsely 

 haired, Hght brown; 18 segments, the fifth with a stem as long as 

 the basal enlargement, which latter has a length one-half greater 

 than its diameter; terminal segment produced, tapering, obtuse. 

 Palpi; one stout segment, broadly rounded apically. Mesonotimi 

 shining reddish brown. Scutellum dark orange, postscutellum 

 fuscous. Abdomen fuscous yellowish. Genitalia fuscous. Wings 

 hyaline, costa light straw. Halteres yellowish basally, fuscous 

 apically. Legs a variable light brown; claws long, slender, evenly 

 carved, the pulvilli one-half longer than the claws. Genitalia; 

 basal clasp segment long, slender; terminal clasp segment short, 

 greatly swollen; dorsal plate long, broad, slightly and roundly 

 emarginate; ventral plate long, broad, broadly and roundly emargi- 

 nate. Harpes heavy, convolute, narrowly rounded. 



Female. Length 3 mm. Antennae one-half the length of the 

 body, sparsely haired, yellowish orange, fuscous orange basally; 

 20 segments, the fifth with a stem one-fifth the length of the basal 

 enlargement, which latter has a length twice its diameter; femora, 

 tibiae and tarsi dark brown or black. Ovipositor nearly as long as 



