Larva: length barely two lines, elongated, flattened, deeply incised between segments, anal segment with six prominent tubercular points or teeth, arranged in two groups of three each; central two-thirds of larva of uniform width, sharply tapering to head; posterior segments narrower and abruptly truncate; colour brilliant orange. Kaltenbach states in his "Pflanzen-Feinde" (p. 175), that the yellow larvae are found in May, and that they leave the gall in June to pupate in the earth. According to Dr Franz Loew (Verh. d. k. k., zool.-bot. Gesellsch. in Wien, 1875, p. 30), each gall is inhabited by from 2-10 orange-yellow larvae, 3.5 mm. long, and that they go to the earth towards the end of June. Dr Loew gives a good figure of the gall (1. c., Taf. ii., fig. 3), as found on Prunus domestica, Lin. : it appears somewhat more elongate than those I have seen here on P. communis, var. spinosa. Several of the empty galls had a small round perforation in the side, the work of an inquiline probably, as such galls I found to have traces of frass inside. The rightful inmate would emerge by the slit on the upper face of the gall. The perfect insect is, so far, unknown. CECIDOMYIA PUSTULARIS, Bremi.* Oak-leaves having one or more lobes of the margin folded to underside, are very common in Mugdock Wood, occurring also in Cadder Wilderness. Similar productions are described by Bremi under the above name. I have never found larvae inside, being probably too late in the year in my searches. Kaltenbach (1. c., p. 676) and Müller (E. M. M., vii., p. 88) have done so, and the latter describes the adult larva as one line long, and white, and that 2 or 3 larvae live in a fold. HORMOMYIA MILLEFOLII, Loew. Last autumn I was fortunate enough to breed two specimens of the male of this species, of which I made a careful description at the time, supposing the male to be undescribed. Whilst engaged, however, in the preparation of the present paper, I * During the progress of this paper through the press, Dr F. Loew has described the perfect insect in the Verh. d. k. k. zool.-bot. Gesell. of Vienna for 1877 (p. 14), under the name Diplosis dryobia, giving a figure of the leaf with its folded lobes (1. c., Taf. i., fig. 5). found that among the more recent contributions of Dr F. Loew is a detailed description of it (l. c., 1875, p. 26). Upon collating his description with my own, I find an exact agreement in all except the following points :-He states the number of antennal joints as 19; in my description I note 18, which a careful re-examination of my dried specimens bears out. There may, as in some other species, be a slight variability in the number. In my notes I describe the apical tarsi of the legs as yellow;* Dr Loew is silent on this point, simply stating, "Beine fahlbraun." The rearing of the male places this species definitely into the genus Hormomyia, where it was doubtfully collocated by Schiner (Fauna aust. Dipt. ii., p. 380). The compressed and sunken head, arched and laterally compressed thorax, and the long abdomen, taken in connection with the characters of the wings and antennae, leave no room for doubt; these characters, as Dr Loew states, being not nearly so marked in the female. For a minute account of these points, I would refer you to Dr Loew's article (1. c., supra). In the same Transactions (1874, Taf. ii., fig. 3) is an excellent figure of the gall in its mature form. GALLS OF UNKNOWN SPECIES. I conclude this paper with descriptions of two galls, whose makers, so far, I have not succeeded in rearing to the perfect state. Lychnis diurna, Sibth.-The gall consists in the calyx becoming more or less inflated at the base. Sometimes the calyx never opens, at others the petals project more or less. It becomes more or less tinged, especially towards the apex, with pink, and the calyx-ribs are usually picked out with darker pink. A number of larvae inhabit the inflation between calyx and petal. They are barely a line and a half long, shining, and vary in colour from white to bright orange-yellow. This malformation is not uncommon at Kenmuir Bank and near Milngavie during the autumn months. Mr C. G. Barrett (Ent. Mo. Mag. viii., p. 205), in a note on the earlier stages of a beetle, Hypera polygoni,-the larvae of which occur in the shoots of Lychnis vespertina, which are prevented from * In the dried insect they are conspicuously pale yellowish-white. growing, and form into pseudo-galls, resembling great buds, three or four inches long,-states, that happening to open one of these galls, he saw plenty of the minute orange-coloured larvae of a Cecidomyia. The larvae of a Continental species, C. lychnidis, Heyd., live gregariously in deformed, woolly, leaf and terminal buds of Lychnis dioica, and we may possibly find the above two forms are to be referred to it. Angelica sylvestris, Lin.-About the middle of September, I observed, among the umbels of this plant in Mugdock Wood, numerous flowers conspicuously larger than the rest. Closer inspection showed that the carpels were swollen and pinkish in colour; the petals were somewhat fleshy, and had not unfolded; stamens were present, but the styles of the pistil seemed aborted. The length of the galled flower was scarcely two lines. In each galled flower was a single larva, colour bright orangeyellow, length three-quarters of a line to nearly one line, last segment emarginate, on each projection a number of bristles seated on tubercles, similarly to others on different parts of the body. The larva inhabits the cup of the flower, and not the carpel, as I ascertained by very careful examination. I made a slight reference to this gall in a previous paper on the genus Asphondylia; and as I stated, it will probably turn out to be the work of A. pimpinellae, Fr. Lw., which forms galls resembling these on Pimpinella saxifraga, Lin., and the galls of which species Mr Traill (Scot. Nat., i., p. 125) has recorded for Scotland. Similar malformations of the flower have been observed in various other umbelliferous plants, as Pastinaca sativa, Lin., Daucus carota, Lin., and others, all most likely to be referred to the same insect. But in all these forms, so far as known, the larva seems to inhabit the carpel and not the flower-cup. Having this fact before me, I was careful to assure myself of its true position in the examples.I have met with on Angelica. In the discussion which followed the reading of this Paper, Mr Peter Cameron stated that he had first found the larvae of Cecidomyia quercus on the banks of the Clyde, near Newton, in abortive acorns, in which several lived in company, and their presence caused the cup to become split and twisted. It seems very probable that it is the same species which inhabits the leaf buds and the acorns, for they occur on the same tree. Although he had bred specimens in the autumn, he was inclined to believe that this was owing to their having been reared in a room, for at present he had a considerable number collected in autumn which have not yet become mature. He had sent specimens to Dr. Franz Loew, who stated that they were undoubtedly a new form. The acorns in which they were found were only about the size of a small pea. II. The Mammals of the Neighbourhood of Loch Lomond. In the country which borders on Loch Lomond there has been found a large proportion of the land mammals of Britain; but as in other districts, several species which were at one time common are now rarely or never met with, the advance of agriculture and the greater attention paid to the preservation of game having been most destructive to many of our wild animals, as well as to our rapacious birds. Within late years a great change has taken place in the mammalian fauna of this district. At one time Wild Cats were well known, and Martens, if not often seen, betrayed their presence by their thieving habits; Polecats were not uncommon; Rats, except a few of the harmless Mus Rattus, Rabbits, and Squirrels were unknown, and mountain Hares seldom met with. How changed is it now! The Wild Cat, Marten, and Polecat extinct, the Brown Rat swarming in and around all farm steadings, Rabbits plentiful ón hill and low country alike, and the Mountain Hare numerous on all the higher ranges. Squirrels are also common in all the plantations, and are extending their distribution. The nature of the ground round Loch Lomond renders the district peculiarly suited for all kind of mammals. In the agricultural land at the southern end of the loch are found Moles, Shrews, Mice, and Voles, while the more rugged ground at the northern end gives shelter to the wilder animals and Mountain Hares. So far as we know, no complete list of the mammals found throughout the Loch Lomond district has ever been drawn up, although the subject has not been neglected by naturalists and others. The Rev. Mr Stewart published a list of the mammals of the parish of Luss in the "Statistical Account of Scotland," 1790. The works of Mr John Colquhoun are full of most interesting notes on the habits and natural history of the wild animals of the Dumbartonshire woods and moors; and Mr Robert Gray has given information about some of the more interesting mammals of the district, in his sketch of the Zoology of Loch Lomond, in Messrs. Maclure and Macdonald's "Guide to the Trossachs and Loch Lomond." In the "Fauna and Flora of the West of Scotland," Glasgow, 1876, Mr E. R. Alston has given, in detail, a sketch of the mammals, which of course includes those of the Loch Lomond district. In the notes to the following list I have not therefore attempted fully to describe the habits of any of the existing species, as that has already been ably done by other pens, but have only endeavoured to record the present as compared with the past state of the mammalian fauna of the neighbourhood of Loch Lomond. CHEIROPTERA. VESPERTILIONIDAE. COMMON BAT, Vesperugo pipistrellus (Schreb.). Very common. LONG-EARED BAT, Plecotus auritus (Linn.). Not uncommon, but not so numerous as the last named species. INSECTIVORA. ERINACEIDAE. HEDGEHOG, Erinaceus europaeus. Linn. Common, and in many places would be numerous were it not killed down by gamekeepers, who all wage war against it. I have found young ones, with their eyes not yet open, as late as 28th of September, which I think is almost a proof of the hedgehog occasionally breeding twice in the year. INSECTIVORA. MOLE, Talpa europaea. Linn. TALPIDAE. Very common. Although trapped on all the arable land in the district, this species still holds its own, as the numerous woods and plantations offer it a secure retreat. |