We consider a non-compact Riemannian periodic manifold such that the
corresponding Laplacian has a spectral gap. By continuously perturbing the
periodic metric locally we can prove the existence of eigenvalues in a gap. A
lower bound on the number of eigenvalue branches crossing a fixed level is
established in terms of a discrete eigenvalue problem. Furthermore, we discuss
examples of perturbations leading to infinitely many eigenvalue branches coming
from above resp. finitely many branches coming from below.Comment: 30 pages, 3 eps-figures, LaTe