364 



Handbook of Nature-Study 



house? What is its color? Its size? Is it 

 smooth or wrinkled on the outside? Is it 

 covered with fuzz or with spines? 



3. Open the gall; is there an insect 

 within it? If so, where is it and how does 

 it look? What is the appearance of the 

 inside of the gall? 



4. Is there a cell for the insect at the 

 very center of the gall, or are there many 

 such cells ? 



5. Has the house an open door? If 

 so, does the door open above or below? 

 Are there more than one insect in the 

 galls with open doors? What sort of in- 

 sect makes this kind of house? 



6. Do j^ou find any insects besides the 

 original gall-maker within it? If so, what 

 are they doing? 



7. Of what use are these houses to 

 their little inmates? How do they pro- 

 tect them from enemies? How do they 

 furnish them with food? 



8. Do the gall insects live all their 

 lives within the galls or do they change to 

 winged insects and come out into the 

 world? If so, how do they get out? 



9. How many kinds of galls can you 

 find upon oaks? Upon goldenrod? Upon 

 witch-hazel? Upon willow? 



Supplementary reading — Outdoor 

 Studies, Needham, pages 18 and 37; 

 "Houses of Oak," in Insect Stories, 

 Kellogg; Manual for the Study of Insects. 



A green little world 



With me at its heart / 

 A house grown by magic. 



Of a green stem, a fart. 



My walls give me food 

 And protect me from foes, 



I eat at my leisure. 

 In safety repose. 



My house hath no window, 

 'Tis dark as the night ! 



But I make me a door 

 And batten it tight. 



And when my wings grow 



I throw ivide my door; 

 And to 7ny green castle 



I returii nevermore. 



Stem of golden-rod, showing the 

 spherical gall above, made by 

 larva of a fly; and the spindle- 

 shaped gall below, made by the 

 caterpillar of a moth. 



