28 BRITISH GALLS 



French peasants in his time, " Dans certaines anndes oii 

 elle en 6toit charg^e^ les paysans se font avis6s des manger 

 de ces pommes du lierre terrestre, et les ont trouvees bonaes. 

 J'en ai gott6, leur faveur aromatique m'a paru tenir 

 beaucoup de celle que I'ordorat fait imaginer que la plante 

 doit avoir; au reste, il faut cuellir de ces galles de bonne 

 heure, pour ne pas les avoir trop sfeches et trop filamenteuses. 

 Je ne scais pour tant si elle pourront jamais parvenir a 6tre 

 mises au rang des bons fruits." Our illustrations of this gall 

 are from specimens gathered on Brean Down, near Weston- 

 super-Mare, where I observed them in great numbers in 

 June, 19 lo. Many of the afflicted plants bore flowers, and 

 in the majority the leaves alone were attacked. The usual 

 colour of galls growing in shade was a yellowish-green ; 

 those exposed to the sun were vividly tinted. 



Aulax papaveris attacks the Common and Smooth-headed 

 Poppies, causing the capsules to become more or less 

 swollen and deformed. (See Plate XXIV., which also shows 

 normal capsules.) The larval cells are often numerous, 

 ranging from ten to sixty in a capsule. Sometimes the 

 capsules are very slightly swollen, and the presence of the 

 parasite may be quite unsuspected by the casual observer. 

 Cameron considers the Aulax minor of Hartig to be only a 

 variety of ^. papaveris. Houard, however, gives it specific 

 rank. The galls differ in certain particulars. In those 

 induced by A. papaveris the larval cells are irregularly 

 distributed in the capsule, and the septa -are obliterated. 

 In those of A. minor the septa remain intact, the larval 

 cells are, as a rule, completely separated, and the capsules 

 are very seldom enlarged. 



Diastrophus ruhi causes irregular spindle-shaped galls on 

 the stems of various brambles. These galls are green at 

 first, then reddish, and are brown at maturity. They range 

 from 2 to 8 inches in length, and the stem is usually 

 curved at the point of attack, not infrequently in the form 

 of the letter S. They sometimes bear several small spines, 

 occasionally a few large ones only. The surface is always 



