ANT COMMUNITIES 



The adult has habits quite different from those of the 

 nymphs. It has strong legs and wings, which permit it 

 to spring up and fly away quickly upon the slightest jar 

 of the plant or the near approach of the hand to its 

 resting-place. The hibernating forms gather, but quite 

 sluggishly, and are readily captured when found. The 

 summer forms fly from tree to tree, and can easily be 

 borne by the winds long distances, thus infesting neigh- 

 boring orchards and plants. The adults are also pro- 

 vided with a beak, with which they feed upon the tissues 

 of the leaves and the tender twigs of the trees. They 

 seem to have no favorite feeding-place. 



Three or four days after transformation from the 

 nymph stage the adults of the spring and summer 

 broods pair, and egg-laying begins for another brood. 

 These eggs are usually laid singly, sometimes several 

 in a row or group, on the under side of the tenderest 

 leaves, among the hairs near the mid-rid or on the 

 petioles near the leaf. Sometimes the mother places 

 an egg or two in each notch of the toothed edge of the 

 leaf. These eggs of the summer brood resemble those 

 of the hibernating adults, but hatch in from eight to ten 

 days under more favorable conditions. 



Fortunately for the safety of vegetation, aphids have 

 a number of natural enemies. Among the most ef- 

 fective of these are the well-known " lady birds," which 

 are beetles, belonging principally to the Coccinella. They 

 are small, roundish insects, generally yellow or red, 

 with black spots, or black with red or yellow spots. 

 There are many species, and they are generally distrib- 

 uted among the plants, and are familiar objects to those 

 who cultivate flowers. They live both in the perfect 

 and the immature state upon aphids, their natural food, 



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