176 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
eges of moths and butterflies, or in, or on, the 
bodies of caterpillars and grubs, and thus destroy 
them. They are of all sizes, some very small, and 
of so many species that almost every insect has a 
parasite of this class specially belonging to it. On 
shoots where aphides have been some time, some 
may appear to have become solidified, and changed 
in colour to a light brown. These are aphides which 
have been pierced by tiny ichneumon flies, whose 
eggs have hatched in their interior: a magnifying 
glass will often show a hole in the body from which 
the new-born fly has emerged. These brown trans- 
mogrified aphides are therefore foes transformed 
into friends—an effort of Nature to assist the negli- 
gent Rosarian in dealing with the aphis host. There 
is no need to allude further to the ichneumon flies, 
for only the perfect insects are generally seen, and 
these are not likely to be destroyed, nor, as far as I 
know, capable of being increased. 
The well-known lady-bird (Coccinelle) in its larva 
state feeds upon aphides, but I am bound to say 
that it is not common enough to do much good. 
You must have a lot of green fly before the prudent 
ladybird will lay her eggs on the shoot among them, 
and the careful Rosarian will hope to see nothing 
of one or the other. Still the shape of the larva, 
quite unlike that of a Rose-eating grub, and sug- 
gesting the perfect insect by its spots, should be 
noted, that this small family of friends may be 
saved from the general massacre. 
A bee-like looking insect (Syrphus) also subsists 
in the grub state upon aphides. This creature is 
very apt to be summarily squashed as an enemy 
instead of being protected as a friend. It may be 
