The Ohio Journal of Science. Vol. XVI., No. 2 (December, 1915) — John Shaqi
The Ohio Journal of Science. Vol. XVI., No. 2 (December, 1915)Various
History
The Ohio Journal of Science. Vol. XVI., No. 2 (December, 1915)
Various
Natural history -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
It is sometimes stated that the distribution of gall insects is similar
to that of their host plants. In certain cases this does not seem to
be true. In that of my number 32 first found and described by Sears,
no report of this large and striking form has appeared, showing it
to occur east of the Allegheny mountain system, a region in which
_H. ovata_ is abundant. In the cases of my numbers 5, 9, 19 and 31,
all heretofore unreported and possessing prominent distinguishing
characters, it would seem as though they were somewhat restricted in
their distribution, for while comparatively common in Ohio, they are
never seen in Connecticut or Kansas, where equally intensive collecting
was prosecuted. So few are the students of cecidia and so meager
the data in this field, that it is, however, much too early to make
positive assertions in matters of geographic distribution.
The data on the galls presented herewith was compiled for the most
part at the time of collection; the notes and drawings made from fresh
material. For later comparative work, the material was all preserved in
formalin, each collection being assigned to a vial.
The writer has refrained from attaching a specific name to his new
species of cecidia, a practice very common on the part of European
cecidologists. Even though the adult gall has no direct relation to
the adult insect, the fact, nevertheless, remains that the specificity
of the gall owes its origin to the specificity of the physiological
phenomena of the larval insect, and it is this, which in the mind of
the writer, gives pre-eminence to the insect. The adult gall and the
adult insect can be conceived as arising from the same complex, the
larva, the adult insect bearing, however, a more intimate and direct
relation to the original source of events than the gall. In many cases
the adult insects offer characters, making possible the delimitation of
species, with greater exactness, than do the galls. For these reasons
new names of cecidia should only appear with adequate descriptions of
the cecidozoons.
Though the galls almost uniformly occur on the under side of the
leaflet, the drawings have presented them in an inverted position, with
the gall uppermost, this being the position in which the galls would be
examined. In practically all cases there are two sketches of the type,
one showing the exterior aspect of the gall, the other the interior as
seen in a vertical, median section. The figure number is in all cases
the same as the list number.
The writer wishes to express his appreciation of the hospitality of
his friend, J. L. King, who, as assistant entomologist for the Ohio
Experiment Station, shared his field laboratory during some of the time
in which cecidological collecting was being carried on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account