86 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 1 



the matured insects a shining- black body and young of a reddish- 

 brown. The latter, too, is known to sometimes infest the roots of the 

 peach, while the green peach-aphis, so far as is known, occurs only 

 above the ground. 



If very abundant, the lice will be seen collecting thickly about the 

 buds long before they open. If fewer in number, they may escape 

 observation until the leaves are attacked and curled. In the spring of 

 1906 the writer noticed the serious bud infestation first on April 13. 

 In 1907, eggs were found hatching at Grand Junction as early as Feb- 

 ruary 16, owing to the unusually open winter and early spring. The 

 eggs, small, oval and shining black, resemble very much the eggs of the 

 green apple-aphis. They are deposited in the fall upon the twigs of 

 peach or sometimes the plum or cherry and are tucked away under the 

 bud or upon rough places along the bark, usually somewhere near the 

 tips of the twig. They are not placed in such masses as the eggs of 

 the green apple-aphis and it usually requires rather close searching to 

 discover them. I found them deposited this fall as early as October 

 24 at St. Louis, and Professor Gillette reported them being laid freely 

 at Ft. Collins, Colorado, as early as November 5. 



Soon after hatching the lice crawl to some nearby leaf or fruit bud 

 and insert their beaks into the more tender portion. At the time the 

 first lice are hatched, the buds, though considerably swollen, are still 

 protected by thick bud-scales which are more tender near the apex. 

 The stem-mothers, when first hatched, are of a dark green color, with 

 almost black appendages, and in length not more than 2-100 of an 

 inch. As the inner and redder bud-scales are pushed out, these also 

 become covered with stem-mothers, which after their first moulting of 

 skins begin to assume shades of pink or salmon. These shades will be 

 first noticed along the lateral margins of the body. As the stem- 

 mother increases in size and continues to moult, this color becomes 

 more prominent. Examined carefully, these dorsal abdominal mark- 

 ings will be found to consist of light terra-cotta or even maroon colors 

 upon an apple green, the combination giving a salmon or pink in gen- 

 eral effect. All stem-mothers do not take on this typical shade, but 

 remain green throughout their lives and those which do assume the 

 salmon color often fade back into almost a green toward the close of 

 the period of their existence. 



The stem-mothers blend very closely with the colors of the buds and 

 blossoms and are therefore not easily seen. At the time of the birth 

 of their first young, they measure about 8-100 of an inch in length. 

 The young, which are born living, are at first much paler green in 

 color than were the stem-mothers when first hatched. The apterous in- 



