APPENDIX i^i 



As stated the farmer can do little directly against^ the Com 

 Aphis, whose Latin name is Siphonophora granaira, which 

 has reached alarming proportions in some years, but for- 

 tunately for us we have a vigorous little ally in Ephedrus 

 Plagiator, a minute ichneumon which manages to polish o£E 

 at least 90 per cent, of them. Fig. 2 shows this fly in the act 

 of depositing an egg in the aphid's body, which will soon 

 hatch and devour its host. 



The Cabbage Aphis (.4, brassica) is green with black spots, 

 and infests the undersides of the leaves, causing much loss by 

 sucking out the plant juices and rendering the plants sticky 

 and foul with their excretions. Powdered lime or quassia 

 spray is the thing to use against them. 



A more curious insect is the Lettuce Aphis {Pemphigus 

 laclvoarp's) in that it possesses no cornicles or honey-tubes and 

 is subterranean in habit, being a small copyist of the terrible 

 Grape Louse, feeding at the roots of our salad plants. It is 

 yellow in colour and wingless. All ground should be well 

 limed and sweetened to resist its attack. 



Much the best-known and worst hated of all plant lice is 

 the Black Bean Aphis or Collier Blight {Aphis rumicis), 

 and a field where this insect has really " got home " is a 

 tragedy indeed, for when the tender tops have been destroyed 

 the sooty myrmidons will pass down and thrust their suckers 

 in along the edge of the young pods, which means the end of 

 your crop. Beans must be autumn sown to fully resist 

 Black Aphis, as the plants then become hard and impenetrable, 

 whilst enough pods are formed to admit of the pinching out 

 of the tops. 



The Hop Aphis {Phorodon humuli) has a good deal more to 

 say on the question of more beer or less than any Government 

 control. 



It is pale green in colour with red eyes and would be abso- 

 lute master of the Kentish fields were it not for the vast 

 myriads of Two-spot Ladybirds which wage relentless war 

 upon them. The extent to which these good little beetles 

 succeed is the measure of our crop, and here again is a case 

 where Nature is recognized as taking a hand in the struggle 

 on our behalf. Fig. 9 in the plate shows a ladybird larva 

 devouring a hop aphis. 

 Flowers in the garden receive plenty of attention from these 



