APHIDID.-E. 



337 



Phylloxera punctata (Licht.) 



The damage accruing from this insect is often very conspicuous in 

 a general way, and, except to the searching eye of the naturalist, the 

 insect itself may be easily overlooked. During the latter half of the 

 summer the oak leaves begin to take 

 a very sere colour, and thus we often 

 hear it remarked that the drought is 

 playing havoc with the foliage, or that 

 winter is setting in early. Is'ow the 

 cause of this is due to our aphis, Phyl- 

 loxera punctata, a creature closely 

 allied to the dreaded pest of France, 

 and found abundantly on the under 

 side of the oak foliage (fig. 310). 



The yellow spots are caused by the 

 mother aphis and her eggs or progeny, 

 which surround her in concentric circles. 

 The mother has a very long ovipositor, 

 by means of which she arranges her eggs. 



The queen-mothers may be looked for 

 early in June or latter end of May 

 under a very small pucker, which might 

 be mistaken for the beginning of some 

 species of gall. 



The female (fig. 311) in the centre of 

 the yellow spot is a comparatively small 

 creature, with flask-shaped body of an 

 amber-yellow colour spotted with red. 

 Head rather broad ; eyes small ; thorax 

 hardly separable from abdomen, which 

 terminates in an obtuse ovipositor ; 

 antenna? three-jointed. 



Fig. 310. I' nilcr side of oak leaf in- 

 fested with Phylloxera punctata. 



Prior to hatching from the eggs, the 



Fig. 311. Apterous female, eggs, and 

 larva of Phylloxera punctata. 



eyes of the larvse are very conspicuous. When first hatched they 

 are of a yellow colour, with scarlet eyes and white antennae and legs. 

 It is said they moult four times before assuming the " pupal " stage. 

 They are of a long oval form, of a gamboge-yellow, becoming darker 

 with age, and variegated on the abdomen. The legs are short. 



