SPRUCE CONE-GALL MIDGE. 
89 
(Search in autumn or winter for cocoons lying in the ground at 
the roots of trees that have been seen to be infested during the pre¬ 
vious season, could not fail to do good, for though the Sawfly may and 
does come on the wing from many places, and lay eggs on the trees to 
set up attack, it is very certain that the Sawflies which hatch in 
spring or summer from the chrysalids at the foot of the trees are most 
likely to attack the trees above them, and in the instances above 
mentioned the successive generations appear to have been doing 
this.— Ed.) 
Spruce Cone-gall Midge. Cecidomyia [? albilabris). 
On February 10th two fine Cones of the common Spruce Fir were 
forwarded to me by Mr. Coupar from Colenden, near Perth, with the 
information that they were infested by a small Fly or Beetle, which 
caused a gall growth. 
He observed that he thinks the insect pierces the Cone whilst it is 
still young and green to deposit its eggs, and when the Cone is 
matured in autumn that the fly is then in its larval or maggot state. 
On examination a little gall growth containing a silken-lined cell 
was found at the base of several of the scales of the Cone, and on 
submitting a Cone to Mr. R. H. Meade he found in one of the galls 
the pupa or chrysalis of a Cecidomyia (a small midge or gnat-like fly), 
much resembling the perfect gnat in shape, with its imperfectly- 
formed wings and its legs folded under it. During the summer 
Cecidomyice hatched from the Cone I kept, which Mr. Meade believed 
to be Cecidomyia albilabris , but from my specimens having been 
injured before I could send them, he could not speak with certainty. 
It will be of interest to complete this observation of the Cone-gall 
forming Midge next year ; the figure of the Wheat Midge (p. 19) 
gives a general idea of its appearance. 
