172 



APHODIIDvE APID.E. 



and at length are in appearance not unlike very fine 

 black gauze. The females soon begin to deposit their 

 eggs, which, if possible, is always done near the buds 

 of the branches, that the future young may be the 

 more easily supplied with nourishment. Some of them 

 continue laying their eggs till the beginning of No- 

 vember : these are oval, and when first protruded are 

 green, but they soon become perfectly black. They 

 adhere to the branches on which they are deposited, 

 by the viscous matter that at first surrounds them. 

 These eggs remain through the winter till the en- 

 suing spring before they are hatched. 



If the aphides had not many enemies, their in- 

 crease in summer would be so great as, by wounding 

 and exhausting the tender shoots of the trees, some- 

 times to suppress their vegetation. Among their 

 enemies, one of the principal is a small black species 

 of ichneumon fly, which darts its pointed tail into 

 the bodies of the aphides, and at the same time de- 

 posits in each an egg. This egg afterwards produces 

 a grub, which feeds within the body of the insect till 

 it luxs acquired its full growl h, when it undergoes its 

 change, and entirely destroys its living nidus. 



After a mild spring, most of the species of aphis 

 become so numerous as to do considerable injury to 

 the trees on which they are found. The best mode 

 of remedying this evil is to lop off the infected shoots 

 before the insects are greatly multiplied, repeating 

 (he same operation before the time that the eggs are 

 deposited. By the first pruning a very numerous 

 present increase will be prevented ; and by the 

 second, the following year's supply may in a great 

 measure be cut off. 



Aphis Humuli. As illustrative of the vast import- 

 ance of this insect to the British treasury, the following 

 observations by Rusticus may give our readers some 

 idea. "In the year 180-2, on the 14th of May, the old 

 hop duty was laid at 100,0007. ; the fly, however, ap- 

 pearing pretty plentifully towards the end of the month 

 it sunk to 80.000/. ; the fly increased, and, by the end of 

 June, the duty had gone down to 60,000/., by the end 

 of July to 30.000/., by the end of August to 22,0007., 

 and by the end of December to 14,000/. ; the duty 

 actually paid this year was 15,4637. 10*. 5<i. In 1825, 

 the duty commenced at 130,0007., but owing to the 

 excessive increase of the fly, had in July fallen to 

 16,0007.; at the beginning of September it rose to 

 29,0007., but towards the end fell again to -22,0007. : 

 the amount paid was 24,3177. Os. lid. In the fol- 

 lowing year the summer was remarkably dry and hot; 

 we could hardly sleep of nights with the sheets on ; 

 the thermometer for several nights continued above 

 70 all the night through : the crop of hops was im- 

 mense, scarcely a fly was to be found, and the betted 

 duty, which began in May at 1:20,0007., rose to 

 265,0007. ; the old duty actually paid was 262,3317. 

 Os. Qd. ; the gross duty, 468,4017. 16s. Id., being the 

 largest amount ever known. From this it will appear 

 that, in duty alone, a little insignificant-looking flv has 

 a controul over 450,0007. annual income to the Bri- 

 tish Treasury ; and supposing the hop-grounds of 

 England capable of paying this duty annually, 

 which they certainly are, it is very manifest that in 

 1825 these creatures were the means of robbing the 

 treasury of 426,0007. ; this seems a large sum, 

 but it is not one-twentieth part of the sums gained 

 and lost by dealers during the two years in question." 



APHODIID^E. A family of Coleojttennis insects 

 proposed by Mr. Macay in the Horae EntomologicaB.for 

 the reception of two genera, Aphodius .ind Psammodius, 



separated from the Linnaean genus, Soarab&us, and 

 forming part of the modern group termed Lamellicorns. 

 These insects are amougst the smallest of the Scara- 

 b(Ei of Linnaeus. Their bodies are of an elongated 

 form, their legs inserted at equal distances from 

 each other ; they are furnished with a visible scutel- 

 lum, and their palpi are smooth. They subsist for 

 the most part upon the excrements of various animals, 

 over which they may be constantly observed flying, 

 and in which the sluggish larvae reside. Of the 

 genus Aphodius of Illiger (distinguished by the cy- 

 lindric palpi and unarmed lower jaws) about sixty 

 species have been observed in Great Britain ; of 

 which the Scarabcciis fossor of Linnaeus is the most 

 common ; it is about one third of an inch long, of a 

 shining black colour ; the shield of the head (cly- 

 peus) with three tubercles, the central one being 

 the longest. The other genus, Psammodius, of 

 Gyllenhal, evidently approaches some of the Trogidts 

 in its characters ; it is distinguished by its thickened 

 palpi and armed lower jaws. The Scarab&us sulci- 

 collis, of Fabricius, may be considered as the type. 

 The number of species of this genus is small, and the 

 insects are generally found in sandy situatians, in 

 the neighbourhood of the sea coast. 



APHYLLyE. The second class of the grand divi- 

 sion Cellulares, containing all those vegetables which 

 have no leaves. It includes the orders Alga, Licficnes, 

 and Fungi, of which there are 273 genera and -2022 

 species, many of which will be noticed under their 

 proper names. The accompanying vignette will con- 

 vey a good idea of plants which form this class. 



A.'HVLLX. Fungt:a, Phallus induslatusj Algae: It, Dumontia 

 intermpta; Lichens: c, Squamaria Smithii ; d, Imbricaria 

 caerulescens ; e, Collema nigrescens; /, Imbricaria crisea e 

 Urceolaria occellata. 



APIDJ3 (Leach). One of the two families of bees, 

 of far greater extent than the andrenidae, and, as 

 noticed under the article APIS in the next page, at 

 once distinguished by the length of the terminal parti 

 of the lower organs of the mouth, which form a trunk, 

 folded beneath the head and breast when at rest, but 

 stretched forward when the insect is employed in 

 ravaging the flowers of their nectar. The construction 

 of the mouths of these insects is exceedingly curivjus, 

 and will be detailed under the article BEE. 



