Insects Injurious to the Apple. 133 



The Permanent Apple Aphis. 

 (Aphis pomi, De Geer = ^l. mali, Fabricius.) 



The LIFE-HISTORY is as follows. 



The eggs hatch late in April. The eggs are elongated, oval, shiny 

 black bodies placed sometimes at the base of the buds or the axils 

 of the old leaves, but usually on the shoots. Many occur together, 

 usually large numbers on one shoot. They are undoubtedly mostly 

 laid on the young shoots amongst the hairs (Fig. 105). 



The larva? or lice are very sluggish at first, deep green or yellow. 

 They grow but slowly, and are ready by the time the leaves are com- 

 pletely open to commence attack. The larva casts its skin three 

 times, and becomes the apterous viviparous female. This female 

 shelters under the leaves, which 

 she punctures, and the result is 

 the punctured area curls up. 



This first female or " stem 

 mother " is greenish to greenish- 

 grey, much mottled with yellow- 

 ish, globular in form, and has a 

 small spine on each edge of the 

 abdominal segments, and long, 

 black, straight, tapering corni- 

 cles ; the antenna; are yellowish 

 basally, dark apically; the legs 

 are vello wish-green, the knees, 



, ... , T i F I G - 105. OVA OF APPLE APHIS (Aphi-3 pomi). 



tips of the tibias and tarsi dark 



brown. Frequently I have noticed a mealy coating over this so- 

 called "mother-queen." She soon commences to produce living 

 young, which mature rapidly in warm, dry weather, and cause the 

 leaves to curl up with remarkable rapidity. 



The progeny from the " mother-queen," according to Buckton (2), 

 have a variety of colours, "as bright green, yellowish, ferruginous 

 red or brown." Frequent observations on this aphis in Kent, Cam- 

 bridgeshire, Surrey and Huntingdonshire, during the last twenty years 

 by myself, only resulted in finding a dull reddish variety, which 

 appeared to be a dimorphic form. Eecent observations have, how- 

 ever, shown this to be incorrect, more than one species occurring on 

 the same tree. The true Aphis pomi of De Geer is always green 

 or bright yellowish-green. The young from the " stem mother," 

 which are produced alive, are also green with two dark spots on the 

 head and dusky and green legs. 



