APHIDES, FOOD OF OTHER INSECTS. 179 



a far more comfortable and complete description ; but of these 

 we shall have more to say by-and-by, when speaking of Gall- 

 insects, among which they have been assigned a place;* 



We have thus far been only looking at our Lilliputian hosts 

 with reference to ourselves and to vegetables, in their capacity of 

 destroyers ; but, as connected with their own world of Insects, 

 they play a more passive, but very important part, as providers 

 or furnishers of food, a portion of which they may also be con- 

 sidered as producing. 



Most of us have heard of honey-dew, and know, probably, 

 that it is a sweet clammy substance, found on the leaves of 

 various trees and plants, especially on the oak, the vine, the 

 hop, and the honeysuckle. As to the real nature of this sweet 

 poison to the plant, opinions differ; and some, perhaps, even of 

 the learned moderns know as much about it as did the learned 

 ancient, Pliny, who doubted whether to call it " sweat of the 

 heavens," "saliva of the stars," or "a liquid produced by 

 purgation of the air." Careful observation seems, however, 

 to have pretty clearly ascertained that this honey-dew, (like the 

 honey of Bees, of vegetable origin,) is extracted with the sap, 

 secreted, and then thrown out by the Aphides in a state of the 

 greatest purity. Besides the profusion of sweets which they 

 scatter around them, like sugar-plums at a carnival, they always 

 keep a good supply within the green jars of their bodies. By 

 the lavish distribution of these saccharine riches, our little 



* Bv Rennie. 



