THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Vol. XVIL] AUGUST, 1884. [No. 255. 



NOTES ON A NEW ZEALAND APHIS. 

 By Geokge Vernon Hudson. 



In the following paper I have endeavoured to give a brief 

 account of a colony of Aphides, and their dependents direct and 

 indirect. The investigation of these communities of insects has 

 afforded much pleasure, showing as it does the wonderful means 

 Nature employs to keep the numbers of individuals of various 

 species in proper check. 



I have been at present unable to discover the name of the 

 Aphis here, owing to the want of both catalogues and collections 

 of this order ; but, as no doubt such a common species has been 

 described, it must suffice at present to state that it is the common 

 Aphis of the country, and is found almost everywhere. 



The females, as in the British species, being apterous, are 

 about a line in length, and covered with a kind of waxy secretion. 

 The male is considerably smaller, and has ample wings ; but its 

 chief peculiarity consists in the great length of its hind legs, 

 which are nearly three times as long as the body. Colour dull 

 grass-green in both sexes. These insects are very destructive, 

 multiplying with great rapidity viviparously. They first appear 

 about the end of November, and increase till the middle of 

 January, when they continue in great numbers for about ten 

 weeks, the colder weather, which generally sets in at the 

 beginning of April, rapidly causing them to disappear. 



The injuries produced by Aphides on many cultivated plants 

 is well knewn, and holds good with increased force here, as they 



ENTOM. — AUGUST, 1884. Z 



