137 
^ninus brassic, Fab., an in.uaine, not a galLmalcer.-Mr. Eye having kmdly 
Lt to me, that, of this awkwardly named beetle, the monographer of the 
\ Desbrocihers des Loges, Bays,-(Ann. Soo. Ent. Fr., 1868, p. 333) ,ml 
'^eunegaUesurlesfeuillesdusauleideUeyden)." I beg leave to e.plam, 
far as my own observations go, the female pierces with the rostrum fully 
id galls of a Nematus on the leaves of Sali. fragUis, and deposits therem one 
eL The young larv* feed voraciously on the substance of the gall, and, 
; their way to the centre, in many cases stiBe by their crowding presence 
n. saw-fly larva to death •, and. of course, if, at this period, the galls _are 
ed the inquiline is found iu full possession of the limited free space w.thm. 
.bout half-grown, this beetle-larva has a length of about V", its colour ,S a 
ih-yellow, the greenish tinge being caused by its full intestines ; when full 
lit is about ir long, but appears shorter by its usually curved posxt.on ; 
en pale yellow, the head fuscous; the body sprinkled with sparse, isolated, 
Ish hairs, placed in more or less regular longitudinal rows, 
-hen full-fed. the larva drops to the ground, and. burying at once, forms there 
d, earthy cocoon, containing a coating of yellowish silk. 
1.; pupal state lasts about a fortnight or three weeks, when the beetle forces 
V out by breaking the cocoon. 
Le of the larvae, which I kept in captivity, abstained from makmg a co- 
instead of which they spun over a slight hollow on the surface o the ground 
abrella-shaped silken roof, beneath which they passed their metamorphosis, 
roof, about three lines in diameter, possessed in the centre a round spot, so 
parent, that the outline of the pupa could be dimly made out. It served as an 
door to the perfect insect. - Albekt Mullke, South Norwood, S.E , m 
mber, 3.869. 
On iKe MUts o/ Cecid^myi. uriic, P.n^s.-Having just bred British specimens 
is midge from the well-known pale green hairy galls on the stems and leaves 
rt^cac^^o^ca,Ioffer the following observations concerning its natural history, 
h may be considered as an unpretending supplement to the accounts published 
erris, Bremi. Loew. and Winnertz. Each gall harbours but one white larva 
dimentary duct of which gives its body a pale greenish hue. A full-fed arva. 
.h I saw on the 22nd August last work its way out of the still closed trans- 
e slit of the pouch, was about a line long, rather flattened ; the «- -^--^ 
^ slender, beak-like, the second broader, but only half as broad as the third 
fourth to seventh segment each a little broader than the preceding the eighth 
broadest, the ninth to twelfth each slightly diminishing in breadth the thir- 
ith considerably narrower, the fourteenth (which is the last), ova . and lesa 
a half as broad as the thirteenth, which gives to the latter a truncated appear- 
e. I could not discern any pubescence, but this may be attributed to my lens 
being powerful enough. This same larva, placed on earth, burrowed without 
ay about two line, deep, and on the 4th September, I found that it ^^^^^^^^ 
/sculptured pupa (described beneath) without spinning a --^'f^J^^^^J 
Bw threads; nor did it. companion, which I left qmte unmolested sp n at alL 
is fact is at variance with Winnertz's account, that this larva t-ns to pupa m a 
.ut (dicht) white silken web (Linna^a, Ent., vol. viii, p. 240). Am I to suppose 
