APHID1D.-E. 



329 



In Cheshire, by about March 25, the queen-mothers may be found 

 just beginning to make "a move." At this time they are very small, 

 and much resemble the larvae hatched out from eggs later on in the 

 season. 



If the infested trees be examined about three weeks later, it will 

 be found that the tufts of leaves have grown from about a quarter to 

 three-quarters of an inch in length. The queen-mother Chermes will 

 be found at the base of the leaf-buds, surrounded by eggs. Her 

 body is now very much enlarged, and of a dark-brown colour, with 

 conspicuous rows of tubercles and slightly 

 dusted with cottony down. 



The antennae are very small, and partly 

 hidden. They are three- or four-jointed, 

 but the joints are not easily determined 

 by the inch objective. The rostrum is 

 short and stiff, with very long attached 

 setae. The legs are short, and naturally 

 not seen outside the bodily circum- 

 ference. The tail is short, but is 

 used by the insect in arranging her eggs, 

 with which she ultimately becomes half- 

 buried. 



The eggs are greenish in colour, glued 

 together by a resinous turpentine, and 

 further attached to each other and to the 

 plant by delicate threads. 



The larval forms which hatch from the 

 eggs are mere pin-points in size, and a 



darkish colour. They spread themselves all over the tree, and do 

 immense damage by sucking the juices of the plant. When numer- 

 ically very strong, as in some local spots, they entirely defoliate, or 

 rather retard the development of the foliage so much so, that the 

 severely affected trees may appear quite naked when others are in full 

 leaf (fig. 302). 



Later on during the summer the green leaves are heavily dusted 

 with white so much so, that they would appear as if covered with 

 a slight shower of snow (fig. 303). If each speck be examined in- 

 dividually, it will be found that it is composed of mother and eggs 

 covered by the white exudation. 



Fig. 302. Foliage of larch arrested 

 in development by severe attack of 

 Chermes in early summer. 



