98 



INSECTS INFESTING THE APPLE TREE. 



CHAPTER XLVT. 



The Apple-tree Aphis. (Cal.) 

 (Aj)hi.'< mall. — Fabricius.) 



Order, Hemiptera ; 

 Sub-order, Homopter 



. I Family, Aphidid.t:. 



Fig. 73. 



[Living oil the leaves or twigs of apple trees; small green, 

 or green andblack, plant lice.] 



This plant louse, as its name indicates, is frequently found 

 on the apple tree. It may be easily detected by the black 

 appearance of the ends of the succulent twigs and leaves, 

 caused -by a honey-dew emitted bj^ this insect and others 

 closely related to it. (See Aphis malifolui; Chap. 47.) 



Fig. 73. — Apple-tree Aphis (young), enlarg- 

 ed — color, green. 



The wingless individuals (Fig. 73) are small, 

 green lice, and can be found in great numbers 

 on the under side of the leaves and tender 

 twigs. They measure about one line in length, 

 and are often accompanied by winged individ- 

 uals. As the Winter season approaches, the 

 eggs are laid on the branches and twigs, and 

 can be easily seen with a lens. About the time the leaves 

 begin to open in the Spring, these eggs hatch, and the young 

 lice fasten themselves to the tender leaves and extract the sap. 



Fig. 74. — .\})ple-tree Aphis, en- 

 larged — colors, black and green. 

 In about ten days after 

 hatching the lice reach maturity 

 (Fig. 74) and commence giving 

 birth to living young. In the 

 course of from fifteen to twenty 

 days after reacliing maturity, 

 they die. The young, after reach- 

 ing m a t u r i t y, become parents, 

 and it is generally conceded by naturalists that in the Sum- 

 mer season tlicv naeh maturitv in five or six davs. Therefore, 



Fig. 74. 



