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Psyche 5:183-187, 1888.

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PSYCHE.
NOTES ON CERTAIN CYNIPIDAE WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES.
BY C. P. GILLETTE, AMES, IOWA.
[Reprint, with additions, of "A study of the cynipidae" (Kept. Mich. board agric., 1888, p. 446- . Separate, 15 p.)]
I wish to acknowledge my especial
obligations to Mr. H. F. Bassett and to
Mr. W. H. Ashmead for the determining
of many species and for the large number of typical and other specimens that they kindly sent me and which have been a
great help in preparing this paper.
I
am also under many obligations to Dr.
C. V. Riley and Mr. L. 0. Howard for
the determination of galls and parasites ; and to Professor A. J. Cook for the op-
portunities and material put at my dis-
posal in the early part of my study.
OBSERVATIONS ON DESCRIBED SPECIES.
Diastro'phus radicum Bass. My
galls belonging to this species were re- ceived from a fruit-grower near Lansing, Michigan, in May, 1887, and a fine lot
of cynips were reared from them. The
galls were taken from small roots of the raspberry and appeared as irregular
knotty swellings from one-half to three- fourths of an inch in diameter. These
galls, which grew beneath the surface
of the ground, seem to have been better
protected from the attacks of parasites
and guest-flies, as only true cynips were reared.
I have never heard of the galls occur-
ring in sufficient numbers to do serious damage. In the College garden several
hundred raspberry bushes were trans-
planted and their roots examined for the galls but none were found.
Am-ph/bo/@s coccinea 0. S. So far
as I can find, this species has always
been reported as producing galls on
&ercus coccinea. The only tree on
which I have taken the galls is a small
scrub oak, which, I was informed by a
botanist, was probably 2. nigrum, but,
as there was no fruit on the tree, the
species could not be ascertained with
.
certainty.
On this tree there were not
less than thirty or forty galls, the larg- est of which measured one and three-
fourths inches in their greatest diameter by one and one-half inches in their least diameter. These galls differ from the




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galls of A. Qong-z'fica, for which they
are often mistaken, by occurring on 6).
coccinea and 2. nigrum ( ?) instead of
2. wbra, by having a thinner outer
shell, by having the surface more glossy and covered with small pimples, and by
having the inner radiating substance
matted about the central cell, from which it can easily be removed with the fingers, instead of having these fibers grown into a hard woody center surrounding the
larval cell. The fly leaves the gall
about the middle of June and its gen-
eral color is a reddish brown. A.
s@zgzfica has two dates for appearing,
a portion of the flies emerging in June
and the remainder in October, and the
general color of this species is black.
My specimens of A. coccinea began
appearing June I 6th. Neither guest
nor parasites were reared.
Am$hiboZi'ps s'ponfifica 0. S. (Cy-
nips confluens Harris, and C. aciculata
0. S.)
Walsh speaks of this species
in the American entomologi .st as oc-
curring plentifully on the black oak, 2. nig'ru+ but, although I have seen
great numbers of these galls in both
Michigan and Iowa on the leaves of 2.
rubra, I have yet to find one on the
leaves of -2. nig'rum. The only flies
that I have reared from these galls are
those of the late part of the brood which began to appear October 3. On the
13th of October forty-seven galls were
opened which gave seven true gall-flies, twenty-seven parasitised galls and the
remainder blanks.
Amfhibolips sculfta Bass. The
beautiful translucent galls produced by
this species I have taken on the leaves
of 6). rubra and 6). coccinea. They
are attached to the under side of the
leaves and may well be likened to large
Delaware grapes in appearance. Galls
taken in Michigan began giving flies
June 21. Eight of these galls taken
July 5 in the vicinity of Ames, Iowa,
gave only parasites, two beautiful species of Toi"ymu!i. No guests were reared.
Am/h/boli$s inanis 0. S.
The gall
of this fiy is very common on the leaves of @ems rubra, Large specimens
are an inch in diameter. The galls are
con~posed of a thin outer shell connected with the central larval cell by many
thread-like radiating fibers. The flies
begin to appear about the 20th of June.
Over go per cent of the galls that I have collected have contained parasites. In
the majority of cases, the central cell
has been found to be crowded full of the parasitic larvae of what I take to be a
species of Tetrastichus.
There is also
a large species of Torymus that I have
found common in these galls.
A7n$hiboZips $~*az?ts Walsh. A sin-
gle specimen of what seems to be the gall of this species was taken from the cup of a black oak (2. nifrrum) about the mid-
dle of August. The gall was immature
and no insect was reared from it.
Andricus clavula Bass. The red
swollen tips of the twigs of Quercus
alba, which are the galls of the above
named gall-fly, are very common in
Michigan and Iowa. From these galls
I have reared several specimens of the
guest, Ceroptres $etioZz'coZu, but no true gall-flies.




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Andricus cornigera 0. S. When
Baron Osten Sacken described the gall
of this fly he had never seen the cynip
that produced it. His specimens were
taken on the pin oak, 2. palush-is.
The galls in my collection supposed to
belong to this species were all taken on the red oak and may prove to be a new
species. I have taken a considerable
number of these galls and they all differ from a beautiful type which I have from
the pin oak by being very much darker
in color and more irregular and rough
in outline. The galls appear like knotty swellings completely surrounding the
small limbs. From all sides of the gall
little seed-like bodies, much the shape
and size of a small barley corn, are
pushed out. These contain the larvae
of the gall-fly and fall to the ground
some time in July, leaving the gall full of holes. I have a single imperfect
fly taken from an immature gall.
Andricus futilis 0. S. I have
searched in vain for this gall in the vi- cinity of Lansing, but late in the fall of 1887 I found a small 2. alba in Ionia
county, Michigan, standing in an open
field, that had galls of this species 011 nearly every one of its dried leaves. The flies had made their escape so that no
insects were reared.
Andricus functatus Bass. Galls
rare, but are occasionally found on
small limbs of 2. rubra. They vary
from one half of an inch to two inches
in diameter and are smooth knotty
swellings surrounding the limbs much
the same as the galls of A. cornigera.
From these galls I have reared the guests, Cero$trespetiolicoZa, Synerg'us Zigni-
cola and an undetermined species ; also
the parasite Decatoma variam, but no
true gall-flies.
Andricus semz'nator Harr. The
brown, woolly galls, so common on the
twigs of 2. alba in midsummer, are the
product of this cynip. Galls gathered
early in July gave flies the seventh of
the same month. A green parasitic fly,
a species of Syntomas$is, I have reared
from these galls in fully as large num.
hers as the true gall-maker. No guests
have been reared.
A??d~icus scitulus Bass. This species
seems rare. I have taken a few of the
galls on 2. mbra in the vicinity of
Lansing, Mich., and near Ames, Iowa.
In the latter case the galls were taken
July 5, when the flies were found to be
already escaping. A few specimens of
two undetermined parasites were also
reared.
The galls are composed of a
woody enlargement of the tips of the
twigs.
And~icz~.sfiocci Walsh. (Cynipslana
Fitch. ) Walsh marks this species "rare." I took a number of the galls from the
leaves of 2. alba and 2. macrocarpa
in Michigan and find it to be one of
the most common galls 011 both these
oaks at Ames, Iowa. The galls appear
as little bunches of brown wool grow-
ing out from the mid-rib, or one of the
,
main-veins, 011 the under side of the
leaves.
Beneath the wool is a cluster of
small seed-like bodies about as large as a very small kernel of wheat. Galls taken in Michigan late in the fall gave flies
March 20. A few parasites, but no




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guests were reared. The flies ;ip-
peared in abundance.
Andricus singularis Bas. Galls
very common on 2. rlibra leaves. In
shape and structure these galls resemble the gall of A. inam's, but are much
smaller, large specimens seldom attain-
ing one-half inch in diameter. The
galls project on both sides of the leaves, the larger portion always being below.
Galls taken June 18 gave flies June 20.
No guests were reared and the galls
were little parisitised. Parasites unde- termined.
Andricus $etiolicola Bass. Galls
found common on 2. alba, 2. macro-
carpa and å?) bicolor. The galls are
formed by the enlargement of a portion
of the petiole of the leaf, and after the leaves have fallen the galls stand out
like little knotty projections. The galls that I have taken vary from 5-16 to
10-16 of an inch in diameter. Galls
taken at Ames, July 3, gave flies July 5. Cero$tres jetiolicola is a very common
guest in this gall.
Cynips dimoQhus Ash. ms. Mr.
W. H. Ashmead, of the Florida Exp.
Station, informs me that he has had this cynip and gall described in manuscript
under the above name. Galls, red and
globular, two to three mm. in diameter,
and arranged in clusters of from 10 to
30 or more on the under side of the
leaves of 2. prinus, 2. macrocaQa
and 2. &color in September and
October. Rather common. Galls
taken in the fall contained larval cynips on the first of July following.
Cynips strobilana 0. S.
The gall
of this cynip I find quite rare.
The
galls are easiest found after the leaves have fallen. They have been taken from
2. macrocaq5a and 2. bicolor. The
individual galls are irregular, cone-
shaped bodies, from fifteen to thirty of which constitute a cluster which always
arises from a terminal bud. My largest
cluster measures nearly two inches in
diameter. Specimens taken last Oc-
tober still contain larvae (Sep. 20).
The guest, Synequs iig'nicola, has
been reared from the galls in considerable numbers and also a few parasites belong- ing to the genus Ezirytoma.
Acraspis erinacei Walsh. ( C. $/sum
Fitch .) Galls common in September
and October on the leaves of 2. alba,
usually on the under side. When grow-
ing they are of a beautiful rose or straw color and are covered with short spines
or hairs. The gall is exceedingly hard
when dry and the surface is made up of
little seed-like projections, much re-
sembling the surface of a strawberry.
The galls seldom contain less than two
or more than five larval cells.
The mature insect emerges in Nov-
ember and is wingless, or, rather, with
only stubs of wings.
A very common paiasite reared from
this gall is Decatomaflava.
Biorhiza forticomis Walsh. ( Cynips
ficus Fitch.) Galls occurring near the
tips of the twigs of 2. &a, almost in-
variably on young second growth shoots.
A hundred or more are often crowded
together about the shoots and appear
much like a great number of little com-
pressed sacks. When green they are




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April 1889.1 2'6'2'THE. 187
light yellow in color, but are brown
when dry. Common.
A few undetermined parasites only
have been reared.
Holcaspis globulus Fitch. Galls
globular, from three to six eighths of an inch in diameter, composed of a corky
material with an egg-shaped central cell, always occurring on the twigs of 2. alba. The fly emerges late in October or early in November.
Decatoma variam, an undetermined
species of the same genus, and a species of Eurytoma have been reared as para-
sites on this fly. Common.
Holcaspis rug'osa Bass. The gall
and the fly of this species resemble very closely those of H. globulus. I have
found the galls to be more highly colored than those of the latter species, and
when matured they have a shriveled sur-
face, while globult~s is smooth. These
galls have been taken on 2. prinus only, and are scarce. One guest, Synergus
ficus, and the parasites, Decatoma var-
ians, Decatoma sp., Eurytoma fozincfi-
ventris and Synto?nas$is sp., have been
reared from the galls of this species.
Holcaspis duricoria Bass. (H. mam-
ma Walsh.) This is probably the gall-
fly referred to by Walsh in a foot-note
in the American entomologist, vol. r,
page 102, for which he suggests the spec- ific name mamma. Mr. Bassett described
this insect and gave it the specific name duricoria, a name that has been ac-
cepted by European entomologists. For
this reason, and for the farther reason
that Walsh's description is not sufficient to distinguish the species with any cer- tainty, I have given Bassett's name the
preference.
The galls are very common on the
twigs of @ems bicolor and 6). mac-
yocarpa. They may appear singly but
are usually crowded together in clusters about the twigs. The galls, unless much
crowded in the cluster, are sub-globu-
lar in outline with a small teat-like pro- jection. The fly, which much resem-
bles E gZobuZus,H. rug'osa and^. Bas-
setti^ began to appear in the breeding
cages Oct. 27. Fig. 3 is a full size rep- resentation of a cluster of these galls. Two parasites, Decatoma va?*ians
and Ormyrus ventricosus were reared
from this species.
Dryo$hae/a $å´a/ul Bass. These
galls have been taken on 9. rubra and
6). cocchea. They consist of thick-
ened portions of the leaves that are
raised in many sharp points on the up-
per side. These thickened portions are
lighter in color than the surrounding
parts of the leaf and each little point
seems to mark the location of the larval cell. Flies began to appear July I 2.
Rare.
The great majority of insects reared
from these galls have been parasites of
the genus Tetrastichus.
Neuroterus noxiosus Bass. The galls
are irregular swellings of the twigs of
2. 'bicolo~. Galls taken in January
gave the mature insects the last of March following'. Galls not at all common.
The guests Synergas Zigeicola and
an undetermined species of the same




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188 Z'..Y2T'HE. [April 1889.
genus were reared.
A number of the
in diameter and is supported by the bud
parasite, Omyrus mindus, were also scales of 2. bicolor and 2. macro- reared. carpa. Galls taken April 29 gave flies Neuroterzts vesiczda Bass. When May 3.
the larva of this species is full grown Neither guests nor parasite were the gall is a thin shell, globular in form, reared.
almost black in color, covered with (To be continued.) light spots, does not exceed three mm.
NOTES ON THE PARASITE OF THE SPOTTED LADY-BEETLE (MEGILLA J\4ACULATA).1
BY CLARENCE MOORES WEED AND CHARLES A. HART. Our attention was first called to this
subject during the summer of I 884 when
dead examples of the common spotted
lady-beetle (Xegilla maculata) were
found by Mr. Hart on various plants,
each having beneath or beside it a com-
pact brown cocoon, about 4 mm. long
by 2 mm. wide. The matter was not
especially studied at that time, and no
further attention was paid to it until I 7 July 1885, when several examples of
the same kind were found in a corn-
field. The lady-beetles were in two
cases dead, while in three or four others 'The present paper is mainly an abridgement of a more elaborate one prepared for the Cleveland (1888) meeting of the Entomological club of the American association for the advancement of science (the title of which was sent to the secretary) but as I was unable to reach Cleveland before the club adjourned it was not read. Since the meeting, however, an article cover- ing the main grounds of our paper has been published in Insect life (Oct. 1888, v. I, p. 101-104) by Dr. Riley, but it has been thought worth while to present these additional observations upon the presence and habits of the parasite and its host in Illinois, where all the obser- vations here recorded were made, as a part of the work of the Illinois State laboratory of natural history. C:M. W.
they were alive and embracing the co-
coon with their legs. One of the
cocoons attached to a dead beetle had a
cap removed from one end, the parasite
having doubtless escaped through the
opening thus made. The other cocoons
were placed in a breedkg cage, and the
imagos were bred from them.
A living specimen of the same lady-
beetle was again found 5 August 1885
on corn, at the base of a leaf, with a co- coon of its parasite entangled in its legs. It was retained alive for examination
and acted much as a spider does about
its egg-sack. When found, its hind
claws were caught in the loose silk of
the cocoon, but when the cocoon was
removed the lady-beetle seemed greatly
disturbed, and would fold its legs about anything within reach. It walked hold-
ing its body high in the air, and when it came in the vicinity of the cocoon, its
claws would become entangled so that it
dragged the cocoon along after it. When
placed upon its back it waved its feet




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