52 PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 



whilst Eeaumur says the offspring of a single aphis will amount to 

 5,904,900,000. In wingless females, Mr. Pett had frequently counted 

 from thirty to fifty young in various stages of development, whilst the 

 Nvinged individuals contained from twenty to thirty young. 



Aphidse were generally regarded as stupid and devoid of maternal 

 feeling : instances might, however, be seen where their actions seemed 

 to show at least some care for their offspring. When the sap failed 

 in any particular branch or leaf on which a family had been feeding, 

 Mr. Pett had seen the parent emigrating with her family on her back 

 and clinging to her antennfe. He was curious to see if this was at the 

 will of the parent, the caprice of her children, or by mutual consent, 

 and to this end he took a mother who was walking along with four of 

 her childi-en on her back, and placed them separately on a glass slip 

 on the stage of the microscope, parent and offspring being close 

 together. The mother immediately extended one of her front legs, so 

 as to form an inclined plane, by means of which the little ones 

 mounted, three to her back, and one to her antennae. With a fine 

 camel-hair brush two of the young were then removed from their 

 resting place. The mother immediately instituted a search for her 

 lost childi-en ; and having found them, the same process of ascending 

 to a place of safety was gone through. 



Wherever there was vegetation — roots, branches, leaves, flowers, 

 &c. — it was more than probable that aphidse would be found, although 

 exceptions to the devastations of this tiny plague of the field and 

 garden might be found. Amongst the most destructive of these 

 insects were the hop and potato fly, both akin to the rose-aphis. 

 A species usually confijied its attacks to one family of plants ; pro- 

 bably deriving therefrom nourishment which it failed to obtain else- 

 where : thus aphidfe taken from an arum lily died when placed on a 

 rose-tree, and those taken from a rose-tree dwindled and died off when 

 placed on the lily. The classification of the various kinds of aphidae 

 was spoken of as being at present in a rather imperfect condition ; 

 and the various trees on which aphidae, presenting distinctive features, 

 had been found, were enumerated. 



Mr. Pett recorded a parasitic fungus with which the aphis was 

 frequently attacked, usually after changing a skin. The insect 

 became pearly-coloured, and ultimately of a reddish-yellow tint : its 

 skin was then covered with a slight down, and it speedily died. Lady- 

 birds would feed largely upon aphidae, while perhajis their worst insect 

 enemy was the larva of the lace wing fly. The gardener was, however, 

 the most inveterate foe of the " green fly" : he may fumigate, powder, 

 or syringe his plants, but still fail entirely to rid himself of his pests ; 

 and probably the best mode of securing ourselves against the damaging 

 attacks of the aphis was to encourage the preservation and multiplica- 

 tion of insects that prey upon it, such as the lady-bird and lacewing fly. 



Various drawings, illustrative of the subject, executed by Mr. Pett, 

 were, during the reading of the paper, exhibited to the members ; and 

 at the conclusion a hearty vote of thanks was unanimously accorded 

 to Mr. Pett for his interesting paper. 



