THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 503 



is most abundant in July ; it is always solitary, and, like 

 all other Aphides which feed on leaves (except one on the 

 walnut), it is always on the under side of the leaf, and 

 no leaf has honeydew by means of the Aphis which is there, 

 but receives it from the leaf or leaves above, on whose under 

 side the Aphides are feeding. Nevertheless, the specks men- 

 tioned may not have originated in Aphides; but may they 

 not have been the effect of lime-flowers ? The abundance of 

 sweet fluid in the latter is witnessed by the multitude of 

 humble-bees and moths that resort to them. The lime pro- 

 bably is only included in the observation that honeydew is a 

 function of the leaf, and no opinion is perhaps expressed as 

 to honeydew on any other kind of plant, and therefore there 

 is no occasion to mention any other kind ; but I will conclude 

 with a few words about the Aphides elsewhere. The maple or 

 sycamore (like the lime and the oak) is only accessible to a 

 very small extent for the inspection of Aphides on it, and 

 therefore the number of these cannot be observed as they are 

 on shrubs and vegetables, and the insects of the sycamore, 

 being generally out of sight, are the cause of three phenomena 

 which occasionally occur. The first of the three is the 

 crowds of Aphides which are sometimes heaped along the 

 sea-shore; the second is the excessive abundance of lady- 

 birds which subsist on these Aphides ; the third is the 

 immense flight of Syrphi, which are also dependent on 

 Aphides. The honeydew on the leaves of the sycamore 

 attracts many kinds of flies, some of which are driven away 

 by the little Sepsis, which avails itself of its ant-like aspect 

 to excite their fears. — Francis Walker. 



Aspect on the Under Side of the Oak-leaf, July 22nd. — Of 

 the following appearances the first is the most conspicuous 

 and general. It consists of the beautiful little crimson galls, 

 called oak-spangles, of which there are sometimes five hundred 

 beneath one leaf, and their abstraction of the sap is indicated 

 by the pale spots on the upper side of the leaf. The second 

 appearance is Phylloxera Quercus, which also causes yellowish 

 spots to appear on the leaves above ; it seems to be always 

 oviparous: one mother has sometimes about one hundred 

 eggs about her, and patches of eggs may be seen here and 

 there, and sometimes about a thousand little ones just hatched 

 from the eggs, and too small to be seen by the eye alone, are 



