SB 9. 80. 
818 4 : 
C578 ited States Department of Agriculture. 
ENT BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY, 
L. O. HOWARD, Entomologist and Chief of Bureau. 
THE MELON APHIS. 
(Aphis gossypii Glov. ) 
By F. H. Currrenpen, 
Entomologist in Charge of Breeding Experiments. 
NATURE OF ATTACK. 
The melon aphis, or, as it is commonly known, the ‘* melon louse,” 
injures plants by piercing them with its beak and sapping their vital- 
ity. It occurs from early spring to late in autumn on melons and 
other cucurbits of all kinds, and on many other crop plants, and in 
seasons which favor its increase, notably in summers following springs 
that are cool and rainy, it frequently develops in enormous numbers 
and does very serious damage, collecting in masses on the under sur- 
face of the leaves of plants and causing them to curl, shrivel, and lose 
color, and interfering with the ultimate development of the fruit. 
Often it kills plants outright, and destroys whole fields or greatly 
reduces the yield of fruit. An affected cantaloupe plant is illustrated 
by figure 1. 
The melon aphis, like others of its kind, excretes ‘** honey dew,” but 
this is not so copious as in the case of many species of aphides, for 
example, certain forms which affect trees. When, however, the aphis 
under discussion becomes unusually abundant, the honey dew covers 
the leaves of the affected plants with a thin, sticky coating on which 
the white cast skins of the aphides adhere, and this attracts attention 
to injury, as does also the wilting and dying down of the plants. 
Some persons notice this honey dew, and are unaware of the presence 
of the insects. They speak of the injury as ‘* honey dew,” and have 
even applied this name to the insect itself.“ 
Quite too frequently, by the time the presence of the melon aphis 
in injurious numbers is noticed, irreparable damage has been accom- 
plished and the insects have for the most part migrated to other 
pastures. 
a Attack by many forms of aphides, especially those which excrete honey dew 
more copiously, can be readily detected by the presence of insects which feed on the 
sweet excretion. Among these are flies, wasps, bees, and especially ants. The 
melon aphis, however, is not an especial favorite with ants, altho some common spe- 
cies are occasionally found in attendance upon it. The pavement ant ( Tetramorium 
cespitum L.) is the only species which has thus far been observed by the writer, and 
neither ant nor aphis appears to be in any way dependent on the other for its exist- 
ence, contrary to that which is the case with many other aphides, particularly those 
which have root-feeding forms. 
21888—No. 80—O7 
