APPLE-SUCKERS. 43 



The life-history of the infestation (beginning the observa- 

 tions in September) is that when the Apple leafage begins to 

 turn yellow the Apple- suckers may then be found in little 

 parties of five or six on a leaf, especially on a yellowing leaf ; 

 and at this time of pairing both the German and our own 

 observations show that the little insects assume most varied 

 colours ; some may be red, some quite green, and some milky 

 white ; others may be green with yellowish patches on the 

 fore body and paler lines on the abdomen, or green with 

 patches of a reddish tint, or pale yellowish with a red or 

 brown tint running all along the top of the insect. 



After pairing the females leave the foliage, and lay their 

 white spindle-shaped eggs singly or several together, or some- 

 times in rows. These are placed in various parts of the tree, 

 and (where I have seen them) in furrows, or in protective 

 hollows near the end of shoots. They are also recorded as 

 being laid on year-old shoots where there is fine hair. In 

 the specimens sent me, although most of the eggs were 

 whitish and spindle-shaped, some were more obtuse and 

 yellower, and in a length of about an inch of shoot I counted 

 approximately upwards of fourteen eggs. 



The eggs hatch early in April, and the young Apple-suckers, 

 which much resemble their parents in shape, excepting in 

 being quite wingless, and are of a dirty yellowish colour with 

 brown abdomen, at once begin to feed, and are especially 

 noticed as gnawing a way for themselves into the nearest 

 buds, so as to shelter themselves from cold and wet. After 

 moulting for the first time the larva protrudes a small wdiite 

 globule, which remains attached by a white thread to the 

 body, and in case of this being removed, another ball and 

 thread is produced. At the second moult a much larger 

 number of threads are produced, forming altogether an 

 entangled mass, with which the larva covers up its head and 

 body. Later on the larva assumes the pupal state, in which 

 the rudiments of the wings are visible (as shown in the figure 

 of the Pear Psylla, p. 42), and from this the perfect insect 

 appears at some time from the earlier part of May to the 

 beginning of June. If the little insects are observed through 

 a magnifying-glass, it will be seen that they can run well, 

 and then with a sudden skip fly away ; also that the eyes are 

 in como instances very peculiar, being white with a central 

 black spot, which gives the appearance of their having a 

 black pupil. 



Amongst various observations sent me in the year 1890 

 regarding the habits of this insect from the orchard-growing 

 districts near Pershore and Piedditch, it was mentioned as one 

 which, although " almost unrecognised and certainly little 



