226 THE MICROSCOPICAL NEWS. 
gardeners and gentlemen having vineries, who have not yet found 
out the cause of their failure in growing grapes satisfactorily. The 
Phylloxera vastatrix (the devastating phylloxera) is a very small 
insect, belonging to the order Hemiptera, to which bugs belong, 
family Aphidze, commonly known as plant-lice, or green fly. The 
largest of the insects found at Accrington and in Rossendale, and 
in both instances they are the wingless brood, are not more than 
one-twentieth of an inch long, while the smallest of them will not 
measure more than one-fortieth or even one-fiftieth of an inch. 
Their antennz, or horns, are short and many jointed, legs, as in 
all true insects, six, four jointed, with many short hairs, and 
having two small curved claws. The beak, which is situated on 
the under side of the insect, is long, and contains a tube made of 
three very long sete or bristles, which when exserted are of con- 
siderable length. These are used by the insect to suck up the 
juices of the infected plant. The body of the insect is oval, and 
of a beautiful semi-transparent lemon colour ; it has about twelve 
segments, and is covered with a number of minute prominences or 
tubercules. Altogether it forms, from a microscopist’s point of 
view, a very pretty and interesting object. The aphides, to which 
phylloxera belongs, usually reside in large societies, upon almost 
every species of plant, but the different species of plant-lice, like 
the true lice of animals, are generally restricted to one or two 
particular plants. No part of the plant is exempt from the attacks 
of particular species, as they are found upon the young shoots, the 
buds, the leaves, the stems, and even the roots. Of these parts 
they suck out the juice by placing the beak in a perpendicular 
position, and forcing the included bristles into the tissues of the 
plant ; the wound thus formed is frequently enlarged by move- 
ments of the body of the animal. Many species of these insects, 
especially those living on trees and shrubs, have two tubes on the 
abdomen through which a saccharine fluid is exuded, secreted by 
the animal. It constitutes the well-known honey dew, which drops 
in large quantities from some of our common trees (such as the 
lime tree), and forms small shiny spots upon their leaves. It is a 
well-known fact that ants and other insects of the same order 
(Hymenoptera) are very fond of this fluid, and seek the aphides for 
the purpose of sucking it from them; sometimes inducing them to 
excrete it by stroking them with their antennz or horns, but some- 
times biting and tearing them to get at it. Even more remarkable 
than this is the well-established fact that one species of ant keep 
plant lice in a state of slavery, so that they can “milk” them at 
their own sweet will. One French naturalist, in view of these 
facts, humourously remarks that the ants are a truly pastoral 
- people. An account of the remarkable mode of reproduction 
of these insects must not be omitted from this paper, because it 
