82 BRITISH GALLS 



Alatae migrate to the Larch in August, where they deposit 

 numerous dark green eggs ; the larvae from these are known 

 as ColonicL They are almost identical with the Fundatrices, 

 but are perhaps a little smaller and not so woolly. They 

 hibernate on the Larch stems, but cause no gall growth. 

 Their eggs are deposited in spring, and produce winged 

 insects styled Sexuparae. These are yellowish-green in all 

 stages of growth, and the adults are almost identical with 

 the Alatae, though much smaller (i to 5'5 mm. long), and 

 have very little wooL The Sexuparae fly back to the Spruce, 

 and lay about ten greenish-yellow eggs on the needles. 

 The yellowish, rather active larvae which hatch from these 

 eggs feed on the needles near to the dead body of the parent, 

 and may be found from May to August. The adults, termed 

 Seznales, are of both sexes, and appear in August ; the males 

 are greenish -yellow, the females sulphur -yeUow. Each 

 female deposits a single yellow egg at the base of a shoot. 

 From these eggs larval Fnndatiices are hatched, and the 

 life-cycle of five generations — Fundatrix, Alatae, Colonic!, 

 Sexuparae, and Sexuales — ^is again repeated. 



Burdon failed to find sufficient difference in colour to 

 distinguish easily the green and yellow broods. I have 

 experienced the same difficulty in this. In the Alatae the 

 fourth joint of the antenna may be a little longer or even 

 shorter than the third, but they are, as a rule, about equal. 

 Specimens found by Burdon at Royston were, according to 

 Cholodkovsky's diagnosis, Ch. viridis, but there are no 

 Larches there for the Alatae to migrate to ! These obscurities 

 emphasize the need for more workers in this particular 

 branch of cecidology. 



Chermcs strohUohius presents an even more bizarre life- 

 history. The Fundatrices are black in winter, and greenish 

 in spring. They may be at once recognized by their posi- 

 tion, being always seated on the spruce bud, never below it 

 (Plate X., Fig. i), by their long, straight hair in winter, and 

 long, white, twisted hair in spring. They almost invariably 

 attack buds on weak or damaged branches, and the resultii^ 



