112 Wiscojisin Academy of Sciences^ Ai^is, and Letters. 



males and females wliicli pair, in tlie usual manner. The 

 result of this union is not living aphides, but eggs, which in 

 the month of October the females deposit in the crevices and 

 cracks on the bark of apple trees. Soon after this the lice all 

 perish. The eggs remain securely hid away during winter, to 

 be called, by the warm days of another spring, into life, again 

 to repeat this wonderful phenomenon. 



Aphis Peotectors. — Ants are almost always seen busily 

 running up and down trees and plants infested by the aphis. 

 These ants take charge of the lice, guard them from harm with 

 zealous care ; for which good services they are amply paid in 

 honey, by the plant lice. The ants approach the lice, and if 

 there is not an accumulated supjDly, they touch them with 

 their antennae by way of reminding them of their wants ; at 

 once the lice respond with a drop of their sweet fluid. For 

 this reason plant lice are humorously called Ant Cows. It is 

 a well known fact, that colonies of aphides attended by ants 

 thrive better and are more prolific than those which the ants 

 have not found. 



Aphis Enemies. — Now for the Aphis foes, and conse- 

 quently our friends. We place first on the roll of honor, the 

 larvae of the Lace- wing flies, which are called Plant Lice Lions, 

 a name well deserved. Lace- wings belong to the family He- 

 merobdia, order Neuroptera. There are many species of 

 Lace- wings ; they are mostly not over half an inch in length ; 

 color, pale green, or yellowish brown, with conspicuously 

 prominent golden eyes, for which reason they are sometimes 

 called Golden Eyes. They are provided with four large wings, 

 which expand a little over one inch. These wings are netted 

 in a beautiful manner, resembling the finest lace, hence the 

 name. These flies may be met with during the entire summer, 

 in the vicinity of trees infested with lice. They are nocturnal 

 in their habits. 



The manner in which the female Lace-wing deposits her 



