PEMPHIGUS FUSCIFEONS. 115 



The true sexes are very small and non-rostrated. 

 Lichtenstein says they copulate soon after birth and 

 then die. He, like other authors, speaks of what he 

 calls the monoecious character of Aphides, and asks, 

 '' Is there any other instance amongst insects known 

 in which the male and female proceed from the same 

 egg ? Is the difference between a monoecious and 

 dioecious egg recognised? " 



In the month of June I received from Moutpellier 

 numerous insects for comparison, which M. Lichten- 

 stein regarded as Amy da fuscifrons, of Koch. There 

 seems, however, to be some points of difference be- 

 tween the English and the French insects. The winged 

 foreign examples are smaller than the British; their 

 antennas are less ringed, and they have a peculiar, 

 though slight, clouding throughout the whole length 

 of the wing veins. I am unable to say, from my 

 present information, whether these differences are only 

 climatal. 



Pem])liigus fuscifrons may be taken plentifully at 

 Haslemere at the roots of Hieracium murorum and H. 

 sahauduvi, and also at the roots of Lactuca. The 

 insects form cavities in the earth which are sparsely 

 lined with cotton. The imagos rise to the surface of 

 the ground during the months of August, September, 

 and even as late as November. The females, to the 

 naked eye, have a sooty hue, more especially as regards 

 the wings, which, unlike other Aphides, are carried 

 horizontally. Koch found Amy da fuscifrons plentifully 

 feeding at the roots of the oat, Avena sativa. This 

 insect certainly feeds on a variety of plants. 



Some remarks may here be made on the maize 

 Coccus of Leon Dufour, inasmuch as Dr. Franz Low, of 

 Vienna, includes P. fuscifrons amongst the synonyms 

 of that insect.* Dr. Low says that the Aphis which 

 often causes such great damage to the crops of Indian 

 maize in Hungary and Styria has been long known to 



* Dr. Franz Low, ' Ueber eine dem Mais scliadliclie Aphidenart,' 

 p. 6; Nov., 1877. 



