Kinsey: Studies of Cynipidse 



33 



on Quercus texana at Boerne, Texas. I cannot say what va- 

 riety these insects may be, especially as they come from an oak 

 different from but closely related to the host of rnelanicus. 



Andricus pomiformis (Bassett) 



FEMALE. — Head and thorax black, coarsely sculptured; foveae 

 large, a dark cloud at the base of the radial cell; length over 3.0 mm. 

 HEAD: Fully as wide as the thorax, rather distinctly enlarged behind 

 the eyes; black, the mouthparts rather dark rufo-piceous, tips of mandi- 

 bles piceous; entire head coarsely, rugosely sculptured, striae radiating 

 from the mouth; face and cheeks rather densely hairy. Antennae light 

 brownish rufous, lightest basally, darker terminally; heavily pubescent; 

 with 14 segments, the second globose, the third not much longer than 

 the fourth, the last not half again as long as the preceding, sometimes 

 with an indication of a division near the tip. THORAX: Wholly black, 

 tinged rufo-piceous in old specimens; not densely covered with yellow 

 hairs; mesonotum coarsely sculptured; parapsidal grooves continuous, 

 sometimes in part lost in sculpturing; median groove more or less lost 

 in the sculpturing ; anterior parallel lines fine, in some varieties indis- 

 tinct and discontinuous; lateral lines raised, smooth, of moderate length; 

 scutellum as coarsely sculptured as the mesonotum, sometimes medianly 

 depressed, somewhat as in the genus Amphiholips ; basal foveae large, 

 broad, mostly smooth at bottom, rather semicircular in shape, separated 

 by only low sculpturing; pronotum laterally rugoso-aciculate ; meso- 

 pleurae rugose, hairy, with a smooth, shining area centrally. AB- 

 DOMEN: Rich rufo-piceous to piceous-black, becoming more rufous in 

 old specimens, darkest dorsally, lightest ventro-posteriorly ; smooth, shin- 

 ing, finely but closely punctate except on the basal half of the second 

 segment, naked except for rather dense patches of hairs latero-basally ; 

 narrow, elongate, protruding dorsally, edges of segments sharply oblique, 

 well rounded ventrally, the second segment covering three quarters or 

 more of the entire area; ventral spine very slender, hairy, of moderate 

 length, ventral valves at least at a 45° angle. LEGS: Light brownish 

 rufous, all the coxae and the hind trochanters piceous black, the tips of 

 the tarsi dark, the hind femora and tibiae rich rufous brown; legs punc- 

 tate and rather densely hairy; tarsal claws of moderate weight, simple, 

 with a bare suggestion of a tooth basally. WINGS: Clear, ciliate on 

 all margins, the veins brown; areolet of different sizes; cubitus fine, not 

 reaching the basalis; radial cell entirely open, moderately wide, the 

 second abscissa of the radius only slightly curved; the first abscissa 

 rather angulate, heavy, with a heavy, moderately large, brown patch 

 between the first abscissa of the radius and the terminal portion of the 

 subcosta. LENGTH: 3.0-4.0 mm. 



GALL. — Spherical, smooth, compact, in section suggesting an apple 

 with seeds about the core. Polythalamous, often with fifty or more 

 larval cells. More or less perfectly spherical, rarely flattened, or elongate 

 ovate; of all sizes up to 55. mm., averaging nearer 40. mm. in diameter; 

 the surface sometimes entirely smooth, usually finely, irregularly pitted 



3—21784 



