RAVAGERS OF CROPS 241 



covered with a mealy substance which serves 

 to repel water. The wings, when present, are 

 very beautiful and delicate in structure, often 

 finely irridescent, the front pair being much 

 larger than the back. The legs are slender and 

 feeble, in keeping with the very sedentary life 

 these insects lead, for the majority rarely move 

 far from the spot where they are born, migration 

 being practically confined to the winged in- 

 dividuals. Most of the species bear upon the 

 upper surface of the abdomen a pair of per- 

 forated tubercles, the well-known honey-tubes, 

 or corniculi, from which a copious supply of 

 sweetish fluid is poured forth in small drops, 

 and is the sticky substance so often found coat- 

 ing the surface of leaves during the summer 

 months, and called " honey dew." It is for the 

 sake of this honey-dew secretion that the Ants 

 pay such attention and care to certain species 

 of the Aphides. The parts of the mouth are 

 very perfectly adapted for piercing the leaves 

 and stems, and for sucking the juices of plants ; 

 they consist of four long stylets within a pro- 

 tecting sheath or proboscis. 



The cultivation of hops, once such a character- 

 istic and flourishing English industry, giving 

 constant employment to hundreds of our agri- 

 cultural labourers, is to-day rapidly approaching 

 total extinction, killed by unfair foreign com- 

 petition, and the wilful refusal of a purblind 

 Legislature to grant such measures as would 

 afford due protection and enable the unfortunate 

 British agriculturist to compete on fair terms 

 with his foreign rivals. One of the many factors 



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