118 BIORHIZA TERMINALIS. 



BlORHlZA TEEMINALIS. 



PL I, fig. 5 (terminalis) ; PL III (aptera) fig. 4; 

 PL XY, figs. 9 (aptera), 9 a (terminalis) ; PL 

 XVII, fig. 8 (aptera). 



Cynips quercus terminalis, Fab., E. S. Supp. 213; Thorns. 



Opusc, 782. 

 Teras terminalis, Marshall, E.M.M., iv, 148 ; Adler, Zeits. wiss. 



Zool., xxxi, 194, pi. xi, fig. 17 a ; Licht., Cyn., 



58, pi. ii, fig. 17 a. 

 Biorhiza terminalis, Mayr, Europ. Cyn., 32. 

 Cynips aptera, Fab., E. S. ii, 104 ; Thorns. Opusc, 782. 

 Biorhiza aptera, Marshall, E.M.M., iv, 172 ; Adler, Zeits. wiss. 



Zool., xxxi, 192, pi. xi, fig. 17 ; Licht., Cyn., 



56, pi. ii, fig. 17 ; Mayr, Europ. Cyn., 32. 



Agamic Form. — Apterous ; yellow and red ,• the apical half of the 

 antennae and the apex of the abdomen more or less blackish ; vertex, 

 front, and occiput opaque, closely punctured ; mesonotum more shining, 

 especially in the middle, more or less punctured in front ; the meso- 

 pleurae richly pilose, shagreened, propleura?, closely punctured ; scu- 

 tellum flat, finely punctured, a deep and wide furrow at its base ; par- 

 apsidal furrows generally complete and distinct. 



Length 35 to 7*5 mm. 



The species varies greatly in length, and the 

 smaller specimens have the sculpture much less clearly 

 indicated than in the larger examples, while further 

 the parapsidal furrows and the furrow at the base 

 of the scutellum become more or less obsolete. 



Gall. — Found on the roots of oaks. Form and size 

 irregular, the latter ranging from 5 to 25 mm. At first 

 soft, white, marked with reddish, it becomes with age 

 very hard and woody, and in colour brownish. They 

 occur gregariously or solitarily, and the number of 

 larval chambers varies. 



The fly issues in December and January ; climbs 

 up the trunk of a tree, chooses a suitable bud, places its 

 head downwards, tunnels the bud from right to left 

 with the ovipositor, and then inserts the eggs, which 

 are found almost in a mass at the bottom of the bud. 



No inquiline is known from this gall. The parasite 

 is Torymus nobilis. 



